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A Qantas flight from Singapore bound for London, England had to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan on Dec. 23.
Made emergency landing at Baku, Azerbaijan
The QF1 flight was delayed for 49 minutes, before the Airbus A380 departed from Changi Airport Terminal 1 past midnight at 12:44am on Dec. 23.
Image screenshot from Google.
The aircraft was bound for Heathrow Airport in London, and the direct flight would have taken around 14 hours and 20 minutes.
However, the aircraft started squawking "7700" – a communications code used to indicate an emergency – after around 9.5 hours into the flight at 10:15am Singapore time, reported The Straits Times (ST).
The plane then U-turned in the airspace near the Georgian capital Tbilisi, before landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, Azerbaijan at 11:07am Singapore time, according to flight data online.
Image screenshot from FlightAware website.
Technical issue in the cockpit
Responding to Mothership's queries, a Qantas spokesperson said the pilots made the emergency landing after they received an "intermittent fault indicator in the cockpit".
In a subsequent update, the spokesperson explained that the emergency landing was likely due to a sensor fault, which "intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential of smoke in the cargo hold".
However, initial investigations found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold, after the pilots made the emergency landing as a safety precaution.
The spokesperson added that engineers will inspect the aircraft prior to its continuing its journey.
Flight has resumed
According to flight data online, the flight has resumed.
It departed Baku at 12pm Singapore time and is scheduled to arrive in London at 5pm Singapore time.
Image screenshot from Google.
Mothership has reached out to Qantas for more information.
Top image screenshot from FlightAware website and from Wikimedia commons