Australian Bureau of Transport security is investigating the circumstances of the departure of “Boeing” to the alternate airfield. This happened after the pilots reported a fuel emergency.
The incident occurred on February 17, when Qantas flight QF28 flying from Santiago de Chile was due to land in Sydney after a 14-hour flight. At that time, a severe storm hit Sydney, causing havoc at the city's airport and leading to numerous “weather-based” landings.
QF28 initially held off the coast of New South Wales and did try to land at Sydney Airport. On approach, strong winds rocked the Boeing 787, and the pilots were forced to abandon further attempts.
By this point, the aircraft already had a minimum amount of fuel, so the pilots decided to go straight to an alternative airport, where there would be more chance of a safe landing.
The liner headed straight for Newcastle Airport, located about 200 km away, where it landed safely.
However, already on the ground, it became obvious that the airport is not equipped to handle a wide-body aircraft of the size of the Dreamliner, and it does not even have sufficient resources to refuel the aircraft.
But what is even worse, since the airport was domestic, it did not have immigration services that could check the passports of hundreds of people from an international flight, so passengers were not even allowed to leave the cabin.
After a 14-hour flight, travelers were kept on the plane for another seven hours, before eventually being let into the terminal building, where they were then forced to stay the night with food from Mcdonald's.
The airline called a customer support team from Sydney to Newcastle. A Qantas spokesman addressed the stranded passengers: “We understand that it was disappointing for our customers to have such an uncomfortable night, and we thank them for their patience and understanding of the impact the hurricane has had on flights to Sydney.”