The Virgin Australia Airlines had a close call last Tuesday when Flight VA1188 was forced to make an emergency landing at the Newcastle airport. The flight was supposed to be from Port Macquarie to Sydney, and the emergency landing was due to the smoke detected from the instrument panel in the cockpit.
The pilots immediately took action and called for an emergency landing. The plane safely landed at Newcastle airport at 3:06 pm local time. All the passengers and crew members were evacuated safely.
Upon landing, fire and rescue crews immediately rushed to the aircraft and contained the situation. Although all passengers were evacuated, three of them were immediately treated by paramedics on site, while two people were taken to the local hospital because of possible smoke inhalation.
"All passengers have disembarked the aircraft which was met by emergency crews as a precautionary measure. Virgin Australia will work to get all customers to their destination as soon as possible. Safety is Virgin Australia's number one priority and we have immediately commenced a full investigation into the incident," said a spokesperson from Virgin Australia.
This incident happened a day after the Beechcraft charter plane crash in a shopping mall in Melbourne where five people were reportedly killed. The crash happened just a short while after its takeoff from Essendon Airport. Among the people killed were 4 American tourists with the pilot.
The chartered plane was supposed to go land at Tasmania Island when it hit a part of the DFO shopping complex. Thankfully, no one inside the building was hurt.
In an interview with CNN, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said: "It was a catastrophic plane crash that has taken a number of lives. But certainly, if we look at the circumstances, we've been very lucky today depending on the time of day and who was around."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
