Brisbane, May 31 (ANI): Qantas Dallas-Brisbane flight ran low on fuel and had to force land on a Pacific island for refuelling.
According to a Qantas spokesman, pilots landed the Boeing 747-400ER in Noumea for an unscheduled pitstop yesterday, after battling stronger than expected headwinds after leaving the US.
"They [the pilots] made a decision that it was better, as a precaution, to divert to Noumea and take more fuel on board, rather than continuing," Sydney Morning Herald quoted spokesman Thomas Woodward, as saying.
"As a result, they had to divert to Noumea to refuel, which led to a two-hour delay getting into Brisbane," he added.
Qantas began flying the non-stop route between Australia and Dallas, Texas, only two weeks ago.
While coming back to Australia from Texas, the planes take 16 hours and are scheduled to arrive in Brisbane first for refueling, but headwinds increase fuel consumption and shorten the airliner's range, before heading for Sydney.
"We're a few weeks into the new route and we'll keep monitoring it. We're gaining as much operational experience and getting as much data as we can from the flights but it's too early to draw any conclusions," Woodward said.
"If it becomes an ongoing issue, we'll obviously look at ways of addressing it," he added.
A Qantas A380 flying from Singapore to Melbourne was also diverted to Adelaide on May 17 after pilots calculated the plane was running low on fuel. (ANI)
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