A passenger on board a Qantas flight from Dubai to Sydney has described how the plane was forced to make an "emergency descent" to Perth after a fault with the aircraft's air conditioning system.
Qantas flight QF2 was believed to be about 800 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia on Monday morning when the captain announced over the loudspeaker that he would be making a rapid descent, from 39,000 feet to about 9000 feet.
A Qantas spokeswoman said the captain made the "controlled descent", believed to have taken just a matter of minutes, as a precaution due to a problem with the plane's air conditioning system.
She said the plane diverted to Perth Airport, where it was given a "priority landing". It landed safely early on Monday morning.
One passenger, Nigel Richardson, tweeted that the cabin crew were running after the captain announced that they were about to make an emergency descent.
Mr Richardson praised the crew, who he said kept some nervous passengers informed about what was happening.
Words you don't expect to hear while on a plane "Cabin crew this is an emergency descent"
#qantas
#qf2 — Nigel Richardson (@NigelRichardson)
December 7, 2014
Fastest descent I've ever experienced in a plane. Always interesting when you see cabin crew running too...
#qantas
#qf2 — Nigel Richardson (@NigelRichardson)
December 7, 2014
Nice than
#qantas first officer walking through plane giving personal situation update to everyone as best he can. Full marks to crew
#QF2 — Nigel Richardson (@NigelRichardson)
December 7, 2014
All calm on board
#qantas
#qf2
pic.twitter.com/CEKUu0eGi8 — Nigel Richardson (@NigelRichardson)
December 7, 2014
Engineers were due to examine the plane's air conditioning system in Perth on Monday morning, but the Qantas spokeswoman said the flight crew would have reached their maximum duty limits by that time.
Passengers would be offered overnight accommodation in Perth, she said.
