After being left in the dark for hours, Qantas passengers whose UK flight was diverted to Azerbaijan will now spend the night in Baku. A man on board QF1 told 9News that passengers on the Singapore to London flight have now been informed. they will resume their journey in the morning, after their flight was diverted due to a cabin breakdown.
The A380 was more than 10 hours into the journey when it was forced to land at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport at around 2.15pm (AEDT).
After being left in the dark for hours, Qantas passengers whose UK flight was diverted to Azerbaijan will now spend the night in Baku. (Supplied)
The plane was met by fire and rescue teams, who arrived at the scene to assess the problem.
“The pilot told us about 7.5 hours into the 14-hour flight that an alarm or a set of alarms had gone off in the cabin indicating that there was smoke in the baggage area,” he said the man to Baku’s 9News on Friday night.
All 356 passengers on board will have to apply for visas at the airport, a process they say will take three hours, before catching a new flight on Christmas Eve.
Passengers have been advised that the aircraft with the fault lights will continue their flight with all their luggage as they are not allowed to remove anything from the aircraft at this time as investigations into the issue on board they continue
Bags will be sent to passengers on arrival in the UK, meaning it will be over 24 hours before they can access their bags.
Although Qantas sent SMS updates to those affected, the passenger claims he had no updates for several hours after the emergency stop, but says they were eventually given something to eat and drink.
“Food and water were provided after seven hours, but there had been no definitive communication from any Qantas authorities,” he said.
The passenger said they had no updates for hours after the emergency stop, but were eventually given something to eat and drink. (Supplied)
The man said the fun was “a horrible time right before Christmas”.
“To make this situation worse, some attendees have to take forced breaks,” the traveler told 9News.
And with Border Force strikes awaiting them on arrival in the UK, passengers just want to get to their destination.
“We just want to go back to our family and celebrate with our loved ones,” he added.
Flight radars show QF1 was forced to turn back near the Georgia border early Friday morning local time.
“Our flight from Singapore to London has made an unscheduled landing at Baku Airport in Azerbaijan after the pilots received a flashing error indicator in the cockpit,” a Qantas spokesman said.
“Engineers will inspect the aircraft before continuing its journey.
“The aircraft intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential for smoke in the cargo hold,” they said.
“Although it was deemed likely to be a sensor failure, the aircraft was diverted to Baku as a safety precaution.
“Initial investigations have found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold.”
The spokesman thanked customers for their patience and said the airline was working to get passengers on board as soon as possible.