A Sydney-bound Qantas flight from New Zealand was diverted to Christchurch due to flames shooting from its left-hand side engine, causing widespread panic and screams among passengers. The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when Flight QF122 experienced a suspected engine issue, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Christchurch. According to passenger Kriti Sethi, fire was seen coming from the engine five times, accompanied by loud bangs and turbulence that added to the fear of those on board. The incident is currently under investigation by Qantas, with the plane temporarily grounded for inspection.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In short:
Passengers have spoken out after their Sydney-bound Qantas flight had to be diverted due to flames shooting from the left-hand side engine.
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flight → speak → engine
They have recalled people's "nervous energy", panic and screams.
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They → recall → energy
Qantas says an investigation into the incident is ongoing, and the plane has been temporarily grounded for inspection.
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plane → say → inspection
People screaming and widespread panic are how passengers have described the moment they heard loud bangs and saw fire spitting from an engine on a Sydney-bound Qantas flight.
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fire → describe → flight
On Saturday afternoon, Flight QF122 had just left Queenstown in New Zealand when it had to be diverted to Christchurch in what the airline said was a "suspected engine issue".
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airline → leave → Christchurch
Kriti Sethi was on her way home after her holidays, and was sitting towards the back of the plane where she "could see the fire" coming from the left-hand side.
"It happened around five times, so we hear bang, bang, bang and there was five times fire coming out," she told the ABC from Sydney Airport after spending the night in Christchurch.
"And then the people were screaming; people were like, 'Oh my God.'
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people → sit → Christchurch
Despite the cabin crew initially blaming the landing gear, Ms Sethi said that, because of her seat's location, she could see everything.
"
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she → blame → everything
So we were like, 'No, it's actually fire coming out of the engine, it's not landing gear'."
Adding to the panic and fear was the turbulence.
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turbulence → come → panic
"So the plane was shaking as well.
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plane → shake → ?
So it was fire and then went straight into shaking; it was just so scary," she said.
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she → go → shaking
Announcements from captain
Sari-Elle Kraemer, who was sitting on the right-hand side of the plane, said there was a lot of nervous energy on board, especially after the lights went off.
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lights → sit → board
While she could not see the fire, she could hear other passengers talking about it and did not know what to think.
"I've never experienced something like that," Ms Kraemer said.
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Kraemer → see → that
"Just the noise and the fact that people could see fire on the plane was scary, but obviously the pilots are trained to deal with that, and I felt it was under control after a few minutes.
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it → see → minutes
Throughout the ordeal, passengers were kept informed of what was happening.
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what → keep → ordeal
Ms Sethi said the flight's captain told passengers in one announcement that the plane had experienced a chemical failure with the engines, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Christchurch.
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plane → say → Christchurch
Both women have commended the professionalism of the cabin crew, praising their handling of the incident, and were grateful for the safe landing.
"The cabin crew were amazing, and the captain was amazing,' Ms Sethi said.
"
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Sethi → commend → landing
Once we landed, everyone was clapping."
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everyone → land → ?
She was still nervous on her trip home, but again the captain "made an announcement, saying 'That we understand what happened yesterday.
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what → make → announcement
It was a traumatic experience for you guys'."
Incident under investigation
A spokesperson for Qantas said the plane had been grounded in Christchurch as engineers carry out an inspection and examination.
It will remain there until it is cleared to resume flying, with an investigation underway into what caused the fire.
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what → say → fire
In a second incident in two days, another Qantas plane has been grounded temporarily and is under inspection after it was forced to return to Sydney Airport this morning.
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it → ground → Airport
Flight QF121 was en route to Queenstown when an incident took place halfway into the trip.
"A flight deck alert indicated a potential issue with the aircraft's anti-skid system," the airline told the ABC.
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airline → take → ABC
A recovery flight is being organised for Monday, with passengers forced to stay in Sydney overnight.
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passengers → organise → Sydney
'Aircraft is designed for these sorts of things'
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Aircraft → design → things
International aviation consultant Neil Hansford said that while it remained unclear what caused the issue, an engine blade might have detached.
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blade → say → issue
"And obviously when it's a piece of metal going at that many revs, it's hit a fuel line and the fuel's ignited," he said.
"
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he → go → line
So the captain's able to shut the engine down, use the fire suppression system and put the fire out.
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captain → shut → fire
"The aircraft is designed for these sorts of things, so if an engine loses power on take-off, it's designed to fly on safely and continue to climb.
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it → design → off
"These are all controllable circumstances, and you don't necessarily want them, but at least with the training of Qantas pilots, they totally know how to handle it; they're tested in the simulator."
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they → want → simulator
