Qantas plane turns back amid ‘engine failure’

Sydney, Australia (AFP) — A Qantas plane made an emergency landing Friday due to a “contained engine failure” soon after taking off from Sydney Airport, sparking a grassfire on a nearby runway and causing several flights to be diverted.

The Qantas flight, QF520, was bound for Brisbane and was circling for a “short period of time” before landing safely at Sydney Airport, Qantas Chief Pilot Captain Richard Tobiano said in the statement.

“Qantas engineers have conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contained engine failure,” the airline said.