This Day in History: 2008-10-06

At 3.30 pm local time on 6 October 2008, Qantas Airbus A330–303 flight QF72 from Singapore to Perth made an emergency landing in Learmonth, WA with 303 passengers and 10 crew on board. The plane had to land because at 37,000 feet it unexpectedly pitched downwards for two periods of 20 and 16 seconds each, dropping hundreds of metres. The ATSB announced that it had identified a computer fault as the likely cause of the incident. Some 45 or so passengers were injured in the incident, 20 seriously. Qantas later agreed to compensate all of the traumatised passengers and offered them free flights. As serious injuries were incurred, this constituted an accident under the ICAO definition outlined in Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention and as defined in Australia’s Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003. Source: ATSB, ‘Qantas Airbus A330 accident Media Conference’, Media Release, 14 October 2008. Debbie Guest, Paige Taylor, ‘Qantas jet forced down with 36 injured’, The Australian, 14 October 2008, p.7. ATSB Media Release 2008/45, “ATSB Preliminary Factual Report, In-flight upset, Qantas Airbus A330, 154km west of Learmonth, WA, 7 October 2008”, 14 November 2008. via aph.gov.au website