Forced landing 8 hours into Qantas flight
A Qantas flight direct from Perth to London has had to make an unexpected stop in the Maldives following a medical emergency on board. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi
A Qantas flight direct from Perth to London has had to make an unexpected stop in the Maldives following a medical emergency on board.
Flight QF9, which departed Perth airport at 6:35pm on Monday, was forced to divert from its course after flying for about eight hours.
A Perth to London Qantas flight has unexpectedly grounded after an on-board incident.
The 17 hour and 45 minute direct flight usually tracks across the Indian Ocean, over the Middle East and Eastern Europe before arriving at London Heathrow Airport.
But the Boeing 787 aircraft had to make an unexpected stop in Malé, the capital city of the Maldives, at about 11:30pm after someone on board the aircraft suffered a medical emergency.
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The diversion resulted in operating crew reaching their duty limit, so the flight could not continue.
Flight QF9 was forced to divert from its course and land in the Maldives following an on-board incident.
Qantas staff from London have been flown to the Maldives to assist passengers who have been stranded.
A Qantas spokesperson said the company apologised to impacted customers for the disruption to their journey and thanked them for their understanding.
'Earlier this morning our Perth to London service diverted to Malé in the Maldives due to a medical incident on-board,' they said.
'We're working with customers to rebook them on alternate flights out of Malé.'
Qantas said customers are expected to be re-accommodated on other flights out of Malé within 24 hours.
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