Qantas flight from Singapore to London forced to make unscheduled landing in Azerbaijan

SINGAPORE: A Qantas plane flying from Singapore to London had to make an unscheduled landing in Azerbaijan on Friday (Dec 23) due to a fault indicator in the cockpit.

Flight QF1 departed from Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 12.44am on Friday, following a delay of 49 minutes. It had been scheduled to arrive at Heathrow Airport at 2.15pm on the same day.   

Flight radars showed that the Heathrow-bound aircraft had been in the air for about nine hours after departing from Changi Airport, before it abruptly made a 180 degree turn near the Georgian border.

According to the Swedish Flightradar24 website, the Airbus 380 issued “7700” – the communications code for an emergency – before making an unscheduled landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku.

The plane landed safely at about 11.07am and was met by emergency services on the runway. 

“Our flight from Singapore to London has made an unscheduled landing at Baku Airport in Azerbaijan after pilots received an intermittent fault indicator in the cockpit,” a Qantas spokesperson said. “Engineers will inspect the aircraft prior to continuing its journey." 

Baku Airport said on Facebook that there were 356 passengers onboard and the request to land abruptly was due to "smoke generated in the cargo compartment".

It is unclear how long the aircraft will remain in Baku. CNA has reached out to Qantas for more information.