Another Boeing 737 plane lands urgently, after a fire alarm. Is the second incident in less than a month
A new aviation incident raises question marks on the safety of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. A plane from Qantas has landed in Auckland, after a fire alarm, less than a month from a similar case in Japan.
A Boeing plane of Qantas has landed. Photo: Australian.Aviation
A Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Qantas, flying on Friday, September 26, on the Sydney – Auckland route, was forced to land urgently after the on -board systems reported a possible fire in the freight compartment, which triggered the emergency protocol.
On board were 156 passengers, who were evacuated without problems. Later, the airline said it could be a false alarm, but the incident aroused serious concerns, according to Reuters.
Moments of panic on board
Among the 156 passengers was counted Janice Peterson, presenter on a television station, who said that the flight went normally until the last hour, when the atmosphere has changed suddenly.
“I saw the members of the worried cabin crew, moving quickly to the back of the plane, according to the pilot's instructions. It seemed unusual.” she said.
The passengers were not informed as soon as they happen, but the pilot later announced that smoke was detected in the freight and gave them instructions for evacuation.
“He also mentioned the possibility to use the exhaust slides”, said the journalist.
On the ground, five fire crews checked the aircraft and did not find traces of fire.
“Everything was clarified in about 10 minutes, and the situation was managed professionally, with minimal agitation”, added Peterson.
A spokesman for Qantas said the pilots had received “Intermittently signals regarding a possible fire in the freight compartment” And that the aircraft is to be inspected by engineers to find out the cause.
During Friday morning, Auckland airport announced that the track was reopened quickly, but there were light delays in departures and arrivals.
Similar incident in Japan last month
The situation reminds of another recent case, produced on September 12, when a Boeing 737-800 belonging to United Airlines was diverted to Osaka, Japan, after the pilot reported fire suspicions.
The aircraft had taken off from Tokyo and transported 135 passengers and 7 crew members. The evacuation was done on the slides, and two people were slightly injured. In that case, no fire was discovered, but the Japanese Ministry of Transport cataloged the event as a “serious incident” and opened an official investigation.
Increasing concerns about safety
The wave of incidents involving Boeing aircraft does not stop at these two situations, and each new case deepens the image crisis of the American giant in the aeronautical industry.
At the end of August, a Boeing 777 belonging to Air China, who had taken off from London to Beijing and transported 265 people, was forced to carry out a non -programm in Siberia after the pilots reported an engine failure.
Nor was July without problems. Another Boeing, this time a 737-800 operated by the Russian S7 company, was forced to return to the airport from where he had taken off, in Sochi, having as a destination Novosibirsk. The Russian authorities did not provide detailed explanations regarding the nature of the malfunction, but the incident was perceived as a new question mark on the reliability of these devices.
Image shot for boeing
The reputation of Boeing, already affected by years by scandals and technical problems, was seriously hit by the 2024 incident series. The pressures were so high that they led to the company's executive director, while the American Congress opened an official investigation into the manufacturer's safety practices, investigating how the internal checks are managed.
The worst accident occurred on June 12, 2024, when a Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” collapsed in the city of Ahmedabad, western India.
The tragedy, cataloged as one of the most serious aviation accidents in recent decades, has also marked a black moment in Boeing history: it was the first fatal accident in which the “Dreamliner”, the company's fan aircraft, was ever involved.
The accident emphasized the general concerns about the safety of the Boeing fleet and shook the public confidence in the company which, for years, was synonymous with the standards of excellence in aviation.
