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Qantas jet ‘nosedived for 10 seconds’ during turbulence scare

Channel Nine TV personality Eddie McGuire was on-board a Qantas flight which took a terrifying 10-second nosedive, causing passengers to fear for their lives.
QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne plunged over the Pacific Ocean two hours into the flight on Sunday night after entering a wind vortex from "wake turbulence" caused by another Qantas plane.
McGuire today said the moment the plane began to freefall felt like a rollercoaster, but praised Qantas staff for the way they handled the situation.
TV personality Eddie McGuire was on-board a Qantas flight that entered a freefall mid-air due to turbulence issues. Picture: Getty.
TV personality Eddie McGuire was on-board a Qantas flight that entered a freefall mid-air due to turbulence issues. Picture: Getty. (Getty)
"Somebody described it as the feeling of going over the top of a rollercoaster, slightly, not the fall - just a little, 'what's going on there?'. There was a little bit of turning of the plane as well and a little bit of downward," he said.
"It was one of those ones that got your attention... Then it levelled off.
"I thought the Qantas staff were fantastic. The captain of the aircraft got on and told everyone immediately, 'this is what happened, relax. That was something a bit different, we've run into these things at the moment, we're now talking to air traffic control and we're going to get a different flight path - we should be right from here,'."
The Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne nosedived mid-air for 10 seconds after entering a wind vortex created by another plane. Picture: Supplied.
The Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne nosedived mid-air for 10 seconds after entering a wind vortex created by another plane. Picture: Supplied. (Qantas)
Qantas A380 flight QF12, which was flying from Los Angeles to Sydney, and the Melbourne-bound jet, took off just minutes apart.
However within two hours of taking off, QF94 "nosedived and veered to the left" after being affected by the turbulence.
One 25-year-old passenger named Alyshia, who was coming home after a two-month trip, told 9news.com.au how the sudden movement felt like the plane "was dropping out of the sky".
"We took off and it was all fine. It was really smooth, there was hardly any turbulence at the start," she said.
Flight QF94 plummeted, terrifying passengers on-board, after experiencing "wake turbulence". Picture: Supplied.
Flight QF94 plummeted, terrifying passengers on-board, after experiencing "wake turbulence". Picture: Supplied. (Qantas )
"We just got served our dinner and then all of a sudden the plane just dropped, it nosedived, and then obviously everyone started screaming and freaking out and there was stuff flying everywhere.
"It definitely wasn't regular turbulence. This was just a drop, like it was dropping out of the sky."
Qantas has since responded to the freefall, saying the event was handled appropriately.
Qantas Fleet Safety Captain Debbie Slade said the incident was handled appropriately and the Transport Safety Bureau is now looking into the matter. Picture: Supplied.
Qantas Fleet Safety Captain Debbie Slade said the incident was handled appropriately and the Transport Safety Bureau is now looking into the matter. Picture: Supplied. (AAP)
“We understand that any sudden turbulence can be a jolt for passengers but aircraft are designed to handle it safely,” Qantas Fleet Safety Captain Debbie Slade said in a statement today.
“As the Captain explained to passengers at the time, this A380 experienced a short burst of wake turbulence from another A380 flying ahead and above it.
“There are a lot of safeguards in place to reduce the likelihood of wake turbulence encounters, but it’s hard to eliminate.”
One passenger, Alyshia, told 9News.com.au that the freefall felt like the plane "was dropping out of the sky", but praised the calm reaction of crew members. Picture: AAP.
One passenger, Alyshia, told 9News.com.au that the freefall felt like the plane "was dropping out of the sky", but praised the calm reaction of crew members. Picture: AAP. (AAP)
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it was not investigating the turbulence event and Qantas had no obligation to report it immediately.
"Only occurrences that affect the safety of an aircraft must be reported to the ATSB," the bureau said.
"Based on the facts of this occurrence, there was no requirement for the operator to notify the ATSB immediately.
"The operator submitted a notification this morning, which is within the required 72 hour time frame for routinely reportable matters.
"The information contained in the notification has been reviewed and the ATSB has determined that it will not be investigating."
Alyshia also said that seconds after the freefall, the plane's Captain asked for everyone - including flight attendants - to be seated. Afterwards however, she said crew members immediately checked on the welfare of passengers.
"They regained control of the plane and then the pilot came over the speaker pretty much straight away and said... there was a plane flying ahead of us and that the turbulence was from them," she said.
"(He said he) was negotiating with air traffic control to get the plane away from us and change our flight path.
"The way that the plane dropped, my friend threw her red wine all over me... and (a flight attendant) went and got me some pyjamas from first class.
"The crew were really, really good. They stayed calm through everything and the pilot kept us in the loop with everything that was going on."
With the flight ultimately landing safely in Melbourne, Alyshia said she will not be letting the incident deter her from flying with Qantas again in the future.
"I wouldn't say I have experienced anything like that on a flight before," she said.
"But it could honestly happen to any (carrier). I wouldn't say it's put me off flying with them again.
"The pilot communicating with everyone straight away was pretty good, because we wanted to know what was going on."
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