Passenger illness forces Qantas A380 into emergency Fiji landing

An in-flight emergency involving a sick passenger forced a Qantas A380 super-jumbo to make an emergency landing on Fiji.

What should have been a quick turnaround became an unexpected overnight holiday on Fiji for the passengers on board the flight, when a problem with the jet’s computer system could not be repaired by airport engineers.

QF flight 12, carrying 337 passengers was 10hrs 45min into the journey from Los Angeles to Sydney when a passenger suffered what appeared to be diabetic shock.

Kristen Zaleski, a passenger from Los Angeles, commented that she saw the sick man receiving oxygen from a flight attendant.

The A380 began service on the route only one week earlier. The plane’s captain decided to land at the Fiji International Airport, where the runway is shorter by several hundred metres than the one at Sydney used by the A380.

When the emergency medical team removed the sick passenger from the plane it was expected that the flight would resume. The flight was delayed further, however, as the pilot noted a warning indicator light that required attention by an engineer.

According to a spokesman for the airline, the warning light did not involve a serious safety issue.

www.qantas.com.au