### Qantas Flight Makes Emergency Landing Due to Engine Failure Sparks Grassfire

A Qantas aircraft experienced an emergency landing on Friday, following what the airline referred to as a "contained engine failure" shortly after its departure from Sydney Airport. The incident resulted in a grassfire on a close-by runway and led to the diversion of several other flights.

The affected aircraft, identified as Qantas flight QF520, was en route to Brisbane and circled briefly before making a safe return to Sydney Airport. Qantas Chief Pilot Captain Richard Tobiano confirmed in a statement that preliminary inspections by Qantas engineers confirmed a contained engine failure. “While customers would have heard a loud bang, there was not an explosion,” the airline noted.

Reuters elaborated that in a contained engine failure, engine parts remain within their protective housing, preventing them from causing severe damage to the plane’s main body. The aviation regulator, Airservices Australia, reported that the engine failure triggered a small grass fire adjacent to the runway, which was swiftly extinguished by firefighters. Additionally, Airservices Australia temporarily halted ground operations at Sydney Airport for 47 minutes to prioritize the plane’s safe landing, ensuring no injuries occurred.

By Friday afternoon, Sydney Airport confirmed all runways had re-opened following an inspection related to the grassfire. The aircraft involved, a 19-year-old Boeing 737-800, is designed to operate using a single engine during emergencies, according to aviation tracking service Flightradar24 and Reuters.

Passengers onboard recalled the harrowing experience with one, Georgina Lewis, describing hearing a "bang" noise from one of the engines. Another passenger, ABC journalist Mark Willacy, shared his experience about the plane struggling to ascend following the loud bang. “That big bang as the wheels were leaving the ground and the shudder, that was like nothing I have ever felt,” he reported, adding that passengers applauded upon landing.

Qantas reassured that support would be offered to all impacted customers and announced an investigation into the engine issue. The airline shifted affected passengers to alternative flights. According to a Sydney Airport spokesperson, the incident led to the cancellation of eleven domestic flights and the diversion of four others to different airports.