Summary

  • Qantas flight 72 experienced uncommanded violent maneuvers at 37,000 feet over the Indian Ocean.
  • The aircraft sustained serious injuries among passengers and crew during the unexpected incidents.
  • The crew successfully made an emergency landing at RAAF Learmonth, despite uncertainty about the aircraft’s behavior.

It was October 7th, 2008, Qantas flight 72 had left Singapore Changi Airport and was bound for Perth Airport, Australia. The Airbus A330-303 had 303 passengers and 12 crew onboard. The aircraft registered VH-QPA left on schedule at 09:32 (local time).

The crew

The flight crew that day were Captain Kevin Sullivan (a former veteran Top Gun fighter pilot), first officer Peter Lipsett and second officer Ross Hales. In the cabin were customer service manager (CSM) Lisa and cabin crew Fuzzy, Jenaya, Samantha, Kimberly, Tasha, Rory and two other crew members. An off-duty Qantas captain, Peter and his wife Diana, a CSM were also onboard.

Qantas A330 VH-QPA in the skies aircraft in incident

The flight

The skies were blue at 37,000 feet over the Indian Ocean and the flight was relaxed and so far uneventful. At 12:40 (local time), suddenly one of the flight computers (ADIRU) started sending incorrect information and the autopilot disconnected. The captain took manual control of the aircraft and just five seconds later, stall warnings started, followed by overspeed warnings. Caution messages started to flash in the cockpit.

Inexplicably, the Airbus 330 was telling the captain that it was flying at both the minimum and maximum speeds at the same time. The 2nd officer calls the CSM Lisa and asks her to get the first officer from the crew rest area back to the cockpit. The cabin crew had just finished clearing in after the meal service and had just secured the meal carts back in to their stowages. Some passengers had gotten up to queue for the lavatories.

“I thought it was the end.”

In the forward galley, three cabin crew were talking to the first officer and one cabin crew had just left to return to their galley. In the rear galley, Fuzzy was hungry and had put his crew meal in the oven. He could relax a little now. Two off-duty crew, Peter and Diana went to go and see Fuzzy in the rear galley. Fuzzy poured them some red wine. He glanced at the oven timer seeing there were 13 seconds to go.

VH-QPA Qantas Airbus A330-303 on ground aircraft involved in incident

What happened next?

At 12:42, the aircraft suddenly made an uncommanded violent pitch-down maneuver. The second officer put the seatbelt sign on. The pilots’ windshields were filled with the Indian Ocean as the aircraft dropped from the sky. There were crashing noises in the cabin and Fuzzy felt the floor disappearing from under his feet, he was floating in space. Blood rushed to his head and he saw that his colleagues Peter and Diana had hit the ceiling and were knocked out. One passenger was standing with a cabin crew in the galley asking about a duty-free watch and hit the roof.

“Is my life going to end here today?”

Captain of Qantas flight 72 as told to the Sydney Morning Herald

The captain grabbed the control stick instinctively and pulled it back, but nothing happened. Counter-intuitively, he let it go (using his experience as a fighter pilot) and the aircraft started to level off. But now, those in the cabin who had hit the ceiling were now sent crashing back down. There was a crash noise so loud in the cabin that they could hear it in the cockpit. People came crashing down, galleys came apart, glasses and bottles were shattered. Passengers screamed. There had been a gravitational force from positive 1G to negative 0.8G. In 23 seconds, the aircraft had fallen 690 feet.

Qantas Flight 72 damage interior

More issues

Fuzzy had hit the ceiling and fell down, hitting the galley top and then was thrown against a meal cart. He started to come round and saw that Peter was unconscious on the floor with blood gushing from his head. Diana started to come round. Fuzzy had been looking after two unaccompanied minors who were sisters. One had screamed, the other reached her hand out to him. Barely conscious and badly injured, he cannot do anything to help them.

Oxygen masks fell in the cabin and ceiling panels fell down. Baggage had fallen out of the overhead lockers and into the cabin. A passenger from an Indian tour group rushed into the rear galley with an inflated life vest stuck around his neck and he was turning blue. Fuzzy said “He’s choking!” but could not think what to do. Diana picked up a pen in the nozzle on the life vest to deflate it. The captain continued to hand fly the aircraft. The flight crew started to respond to the faults and warning messages. One of the primary flight computers was faulty.

Qantas Flight 72 damage to interior

The unthinkable happens

Just three minutes later, at 12:45, the unthinkable happened. The aircraft dives downwards again. The captain pulls back the control stick again and let go again as he did before. The jet drops 400 feet. Fuzzy heard a roar and was thrown backwards. He and Diana managed to grab a handrail. He found himself lying on the floor again, thinking he might die. Some cabin crew tried calling the flight deck to see what was happening, but they were too busy to answer.

“It’s carnage out there!”

First officer on flight 72

The first officer dashed into the cockpit, after being delayed by the cockpit security system. He had broken his nose. He told his colleagues “It’s carnage out there!”, they decided to declare a ‘PAN’. The second officer calls the cabin crew on the interphone and asks for a damage report. Both the passengers and crew had suffered moderate to severe injuries, including broken bones, spinal injuries and lacerations.

qantas 71 damage after upset

Photo: ATSB

Emergency landing?

The flight crew declared a ‘MAYDAY’ based on the information and prepared to land at RAAF Learmonth, near Exmouth, Australia. They have no idea if the aircraft will dive again or even if they can safely land, but there is no other option. The captain made an announcement to say they would land at Learmonth in 15 minutes and emergency services would be waiting.

“What was that?” Lisa, CSM to the captain

“I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” the response to Lisa

In the cabin, passengers were groaning and crying, ceiling panels had fallen down. Diana helped Fuzzy and Peter to jump seats, pulling them with all her strength and strapping them in. She calls the cockpit and tells them that both are seriously injured. They tell her it could happen again. Diana starts helping the crew to secure the cabin and making sure that people are strapped in, even though she has been injured herself and was off-duty.

Qantas flight 72 damage to lavatory during upset

Photo: ATSB

The aftermath

The flight crew didn’t know how the aircraft would react to landing. They circled the airport. The captain had a strategy he used as a fighter pilot. He would fly the aircraft 10,000 feet above the airfield, reduce power and descend in a spiral, before lining up with the runway and flying in fast. His approach worked and they landed safely. The passengers clapped and cheered, no doubt glad their ordeal was over.

“It’s not their intention to build an aeroplane that is going to go completely haywire and try and kill you.”

Once on the ground, they were met by emergency services who came onboard to treat the injured. The captain walked through the cabin shocked by what he was faced with. There were holes in the cabin roof with blood and hair where the injured had hit and injured children. Bloodied bandages and pillows were strewn around. He met with the uninjured passengers in the terminal and personally addressed them by megaphone. They cheered and applauded again.

The injuries

Passenger injuries:

  • Serious 11
  • Minor 95
  • None 197

Crew injuries:

  • Serious 1 (Fuzzy)
  • Minor 8
  • None 3

During the first upset, 18 passengers were standing or walking in the cabin. All were injured, four with spinal injuries. Three cabin crew and the first officer were standing in the galley at that time. Samantha had a bruised eye, Kimberly couldn’t move her neck, Tasha had an injured shoulder. Fuzzy had spinal injuries. Rory was fine and interacting with passengers in the cabin. Four crew members had just left the crew rest area at the time of the first upset.

Read More: Emirates Flight 521: A Cabin Crew Perspective

Final notes

The ATSB final report looks at the more technical elements to this incident. Lisa and second officer, Ross, still remain at Qantas today. Fuzzy, a former police officer from Auckland, loved his job but due to his injuries he never flew again. He never received compensation for his injuries due to the case being thrown out. He suffers from PTSD and has had six operations and sadly cannot work until this day.

“The QF72 incident has lived inside me every single day 24/7.”

Captain Richard Sullivan left Qantas in 2016 after 30 years at the airline. He wrote a book about his experience ‘No Man’s Land: The Untold Story Of Aurtomation and QF72.” . Sunday Night offers compelling interviews with passengers and crew on Qantas flight 72.

Related: USAir Flight 5050: A Cabin Crew Perspective

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