Qantas flight forced to make priority landing after 'technical issue' shortly after takeoff

Australia Broadcast Center

22-07-2025

A Melbourne-bound Qantas flight has been forced to make a priority landing shortly after taking off from the regional city of Mildura in Victoria's north-west.
QantasLink flight QF 2079 departed from Mildura Airport at about 10:40am on Tuesday only for pilots to report a "technical issue" shortly after take-off.
Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and Country Fire Authority personnel were called to the airport just after 11am.
The aircraft proceeded to circle in the Mildura region before landing without incident at the airport just before midday.
"Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this, and the flight has since landed safely in Mildura," a Qantas spokesperson said.
Qantas confirmed 59 passengers were aboard the Dash 8 Q400.
Allan Coveney said passengers were told that the "flaps were stuck" and that the plane would have to turn around.
"We were flying in circles for quite some time – maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter – then we turn back to Mildura," he said.
"We landed quite safely, the crew were very helpful and the plane was calm.
"I don't think we really realised there was such a problem till we landed.
Mr Coveney said the pilot assured passengers that is was not an emergency situation.
"The pilot did say it is not a safety issue, so no-one was worried," he said.
"The only thing about the landing was that he had to put the brakes on pretty hard, very quickly, and I guess that's due to the flaps being stuck.
"I'm not sure why they didn't continue to Melbourne and fix the issue in Melbourne but, you know, obviously they've got their reasons."
Lachlan Harvey was headed to Melbourne for an international flight and said he knew something was wrong when the plane started circling and the cabin crew stayed put.
"A bloke a couple of seats in front of us pressed his buzzer for them and they didn't move and we went, 'Oh well' — sort of could see something wasn't right," he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been contacted for comment.