China Eastern flight makes emergency landing in Sydney after huge hole found in plane

A Shanghai-bound China Eastern Airlines jet had to make an emergency landing when one of its engines was severely damaged soon after take-off in Sydney on Sunday night, China News Service reported.

Photos posted by internet users and published by Shanghai-based news outlet Xinmin.cn showed a big hole on one side of the left engine casing of the Airbus A330.

China Eastern said crew members on flight MU736 spotted the damage after take-off and decided to return to Sydney Airport, Chinese media reported.

China Eastern said crew members on flight MU736 spotted the damage after take-off and decided to return to Sydney Airport. Photo / South China Morning Post

"The moment that we took off the wing to my left just started making a massive amount of noise and they cleared all the seats," a passenger told the Nine Network.

Everybody on board the flight was unharmed and the carrier was investigating the incident.

The reports said MU736 was originally scheduled to depart from Sydney at 8.30pm local time and arrive in Shanghai at 5am on Monday.

The reports did not say how many passengers were on board.

Everybody on board the flight was unharmed and the carrier was investigating the incident. Photo / South China Morning Post