This morning UK time, a Virgin Australia flight from Queenstown to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Invercargill due to a suspected compressor stall caused by bird strikes resulting in an engine fire.
Information has been released pertinent to this incident, which we will get into in this article.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Virgin Australia Flight VA148 – Queenstown to Melbourne: Emergency Landing in Invercargill…
Virgin Australia flight VA148, which made an emergency landing in Invercargill, is a routine scheduled flight between Queenstown and Melbourne.
The aircraft involved in the incident is VH-YIV.
As per data from Planespotters.net, VH-YIY is a 10.9 year old Boeing 737-800 that was delivered to the airline in August 2013.
With that in mind, it is key to note that this was not an issue related to the ongoing issues at Boeing.
Furthermore, of the 737-800 variant, Virgin Australia has 75 of them.
Of that 75, all but one are in active service, with an average fleet age of 12.4 years.
The carrier is an all-Boeing fleet and also have nine 737-700s and five 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Virgin Australia flight VA148 departed Queenstown at 1800 local time on June 17 and initially climbed out towards Melbourne.
However, not long into the climb, eyewitnesses saw the aircraft emitting flames, similar to that of a compressor stall.
From there, the aircraft continued tracking south and proceeded to make a series of holds near Invercargill.
Once the holds were completed, the aircraft went in for an emergency landing into the airport, landing at 1848 local time.
Aircraft Still Grounded At The Time of Writing…
Data from RadarBox shows that VH-VIY, the Virgin Australia aircraft involved in the emergency landing, is still grounded in Invercargill following the incident.
It is unclear at this present moment what the extent of the damage is to the engines following the bird strike.
It is also unclear how long it will take to fix the aircraft before it can return to commercial service.
This is dependent on the availability of maintenance facilities and parts at the New Zealand-based airport.
Airline Speaks Out on the Incident…
Following the incident on VA148 Queenstown-Melbourne, Virgin Australia COO Stuart Aggs said the following to the NZ Herald:
“Virgin Australia flight VA148 from Queenstown to Melbourne diverted to Invercargill Airport and landed safely following a possible bird strike on take-off this evening.”
“The aircraft has been met by emergency services at Invercargill Airport. The safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority.”
“At this time, we are not aware of any physical injuries to guests or crew. Emergency services personnel are on the ground at Invercargill Airport.”
“Our efforts are now focused on providing support for our guests and crew, as well as transporting and accommodating guests in Invercargill this evening and arranging for their earliest onward travel to Australia”.
“We wish to express our appreciation for the support of Invercargill Airport, Emergency Services, local Air New Zealand team members and our crew onboard in helping to support tonight’s response effort.”
Overall, all eyes will be on how long it will take the passengers to get home following this.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how long it will take for the aircraft to be fixed.
Air traffic control in Invercargill stated that the landing into the airport was uneventful.
As soon as we have more information pertinent to this, then we will update you accordingly.
Such updates will be seen at the bottom of this article as they come in.
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