Pilot Takes Calm Tone As Plane Engine Explodes

Passengers on a Qantas jet began screaming after they saw flames coming from the engine minutes after takeoff. The Boeing 747-400 which was en route from San Francisco to Sydney had to turn back just 30-minutes after take-off on Monday morning’s flight.

The captain, who has not been name, tried to reassure those on board by saying, “Normally, we do it in a simulator, of course – we are trained.”

One of the 212 passengers on the flight managed to capture the pilot’s tannoy message on video. On the tape he said:

Ladies and gentlemen, as you can appreciate we’re a tad busy in the flight deck at the moment and we’ll come back to you with some more information. In the meantime, you must be assured that we are trained for this situation. Normally, we do it in a simulator, of course-but we are trained.

No one was injured and the aircraft landed without any incidents, with all passengers taking a later flight.  They described how it felt like the plane had hit a ‘speed bump’, sending shudders down the air craft.

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, told the Telegraph that investigations were under way into the incident. However initial checks did confirm that the engine had failed and a spokesman said there were a couple of ‘holes’ in the chasing.

Just to reassure anybody with a slight fear of flying that things like this rarely happen. Flying is still statistically the safest way to travel.