Police were last night frantically trying to establish the nationalities of 40 injured passengers and crew aboard a Qantas passenger jet that had to make an emergency landing in Western Australia.
Flight QF72 from Singapore to Perth diverted to Learmonth Airport, near Exmouth, following a sudden change in
altitude.
The Airbus A330 landed safely after a mayday call.
About 10 people had serious injuries including spinal injuries, fractures and lacerations.
A police spokesman told the Herald last night that they were waiting for Qantas to set up an information phone line for families of the passengers.
He said the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Customs Service were processing the passengers to establish who they all were.
Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said the airline could not say whether there were any New Zealanders on board the flight for privacy reasons.
A passenger on the flight who used to work for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority told reporters that whatever caused the sudden loss of altitude was severe enough to drive people head first into the cabin ceiling, causing major injuries, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Most of the injured were at the rear of the A330 aircraft. They included three crew members. Emergency services, including medical attendants, met the aircraft on landing.
Sergeant Greg Lambert, of Western Australia police, said 10 people had been taken to Exmouth Regional Hospital with "quite serious" injuries.
Qantas regional manager (WA) Ian Gay said two smaller Qantas planes had been sent to Exmouth to pick up stranded passengers from the flight.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said the aircraft had experienced a "sudden in-flight upset" while cruising in "level flight".
The flight was due to land at 2.10pm (WST). The mayday alert was issued about 1.30pm and the jet landed at Learmonth at 1.35pm.
WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said he understood the incident was caused by "some sort of systems failure".
- AGENCIES
