Flames and popping sounds: Experts explain Qantas engine incident

Qantas flight QF122, a Boeing 737, suffered a suspected engine issue on Saturday afternoon shortly after taking off from Queenstown in New Zealand. The plane was climbing above the South Island's mountain ranges, bound for Sydney, when a bang shook the cabin and flames appeared to issue from the left engine in a series of rapid bursts, according to footage recorded by a passenger.

The cabin lights began to flicker, and there was "a lot of screaming", passenger Liza-Jayne Loch recalled. She described the flames as "very, very visible" from her seat on the left-hand side of the plane.

The flight made a priority landing at Christchurch, touching down about 52 minutes after takeoff, shortly before 5pm local time, according to FlightAware. Former Qantas captain David Evans said the "flames and 'popping' sounds heard indicate disrupted airflow through the jet engine".

Brief written by urgent.news from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News AU, Guardian Business, The Guardian Australia — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.