Qantas flight forced into ‘distressing’ emergency landing at Sydney airport after engine fails during takeoff

A passenger onboard QF520 for Brisbane says it was ‘a real struggle to get airborne and it was clear to everyone … that something was badly wrong’

A Qantas flight bound for Brisbane was forced to turn back to Sydney after suffering an engine failure, with the emergency landing coinciding with a grass fire next to one of the airport’s runways.

QF520 left Sydney Airport at about 12:35pm, but four minutes later, suddenly changed directions and stopped climbing, before circling and returning to the airport where it made an emergency landing shortly after 1pm.