{
  "id": 6111485,
  "title": "Flames and popping sounds: Experts explain Qantas engine incident",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/flames-and-popping-sounds-experts-explain-qantas-engine-incident-6111485",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-07T07:02:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Age",
    "slug": "the-age",
    "url": "https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/flames-and-popping-sounds-experts-explain-qantas-engine-incident-20260907-p60v5e.html?ref=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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\".",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian",
        "title": "‘The engine’s on fire’: Qantas flight from Queenstown to Sydney reroutes after flames seen by passengers",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/the-engines-on-fire-qantas-flight-from-queenstown-to-sydney-reroutes",
        "published": "2026-09-06T07:32:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "'People were screaming': Qantas passengers tell of engine spitting fire",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/people-were-screaming-qantas-passengers-tell-of-engine-spitting-fire",
        "published": "2026-09-06T09:38:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
        "title": "Flames and popping sounds: Experts explain Qantas engine incident",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/flames-and-popping-sounds-experts-explain-qantas-engine-incident",
        "published": "2026-09-07T07:02:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}