Qantas Flight QF643 returned to Sydney moments after departing for Perth early on Monday morning after declaring an emergency.
Audio from LiveATC.net revealed crew onboard requested an immediate return to Sydney while climbing out of the city after smoke was detected in the cockpit.
As the flight began its return, a PAN PAN message was broadcast from the cockpit to air traffic controllers – the audio suggesting crews may have been wearing oxygen masks at the time of the transmission.
Audio can be heard below:
Fire crews were dispatched to the runway as part of a full emergency response.
The aircraft – a Boeing 737 – landed safely moments later.
A Qantas spokesperson declared A PAN was declared to Air Traffic Control, no Mayday was transmitted.
The airline said smoke was evident in the cockpit following take-off, which led the Captain to request a priority landing. Smoke was restricted to the cockpit and did not enter the cabin.
“One of our Sydney to Perth flights returned to Sydney shortly after take-off this morning, after reporting a technical issue,” a Qantas spokesperson told Traveltalk.
“Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted.
“We understand this would have been an unsettling experience for customers and apologise for the inconvenience.
“Our engineers will be checking the aircraft today and we will be conducting an investigation into what caused the issue.”
The airline said an additional flight has been provided for customers and is scheduled to depart Sydney at 11:30am today.
