Jet passengers talk of 'exploding' engine

A Qantas flight from San Francisco to Sydney had to make an emergency landing after a gaping hole appeared in one of the 747's engines. Photo / ABC 7

A mid-air explosion forced a Qantas' 747 jetliner carrying 230 people to make an emergency landing.

The 747-400 left San Francisco headed for Sydney about 11.30pm local time on Monday with 212 passengers and 18 crew on board.

About 15 minutes into the flight, an apparent explosion in one of the aircraft's engines ripped a hole through its outer shell.

"We felt and heard a bit of an explosion and flames coming out of the engine, the number four engine, which lit up the whole side of the plane," a passenger, Darren, told ABC Radio in Melbourne.

"I could see the flames and all these sparks coming off it and also felt the eruptions when it exploded."

Flight attendants rushed to the front of the plane as the engine surged and sent sparks and flares stretching all the way to the tail of the aircraft, he said.

Passengers said it took the captain about five minutes to shut the engine down before he started dumping fuel to prepare for an emergency landing.

"Everyone remained pretty calm and the captain kept us all up to date with everything. I've really got to say they did a fantastic job," Darren said.

A Qantas spokesman said San Francisco air traffic control was quickly told of the problem and the flight returned to the city and made a normal landing.

Passengers were not required to assume the emergency brace position, the spokesman said.

Qantas was to fly the replacement engine to San Francisco yesterday.

Affected passengers were offered seats on any of three Qantas flights scheduled to depart Los Angeles yesterday.

The United States' Federal Aviation Administration said Qantas would prepare a report on the incident for the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

"Whatever Qantas does is going to have to meet with our approval, too," an FAA spokesman said.

"The bottom line is we want to make sure and know that that aircraft is airworthy when they are saying they want to put it back on line."

Qantas said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau would also receive a report on the incident.

- AAP