A group of Liberal politicians headed to Canberra for a party room meeting on net zero emissions policy has been forced to return to Adelaide after smoke was detected on their Qantas flight.
Senators Leah Blyth and Andrew McLachlan, as well as lower house MP Tony Pasin, were onboard QantasLink flight 1972 from Adelaide when the crew saw smoke in the cabin, prompting the plane to fly back to Adelaide.
The pilot requested a priority landing and issued a call for assistance. The plane was over the St Vincent gulf at the time of the incident.
Blyth told Adelaide radio FIVEAA she had “an interesting start to the morning” and that she was “happy to be safe on the ground”.
“It wasn’t scary,” she said. “It was unusual, but obviously, we fly a lot as politicians. I’ve never had a cabin fill with smoke quite like that before.
“Hats off to the Qantas staff who were cool, calm and collected, and got us back on the ground safely. It smelled electrical rather than fuel or anything like that.”
Noting the importance of the specially scheduled meeting in Canberra – during which Liberal MPs will decide whether to ditch net zero policies to line up with Coalition partners the Nationals – Blyth noted the amusing coincidence of smoke delaying the group’s arrival in Canberra.
“We were joking, saying the net zero debate has gone up in smoke,” she told the Adelaide Advertiser.
The meeting is a test for the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and her efforts to unite warring factions of the Liberal party.
Blyth and Pasin are among MPs eager for the Liberals to drop net zero by 2050, while McLachlan is part of the moderate faction seeking to retain the Scott Morrison-era pledge on environmental grounds.
The flight left Adelaide at 6.10am local time but had to turn back about 10 minutes after takeoff. Engineers were inspecting the aircraft, and passengers were booked on to new flights.
Qantas said smoke was evident in the flight deck after takeoff, prompting the captain to request a priority landing.
“One of our Adelaide to Canberra flights returned to Adelaide shortly after takeoff this morning, after reporting a technical issue,” a spokesperson said.
“The aircraft landed safely and our engineers will be checking the aircraft today. All customers onboard have since been put on to alternative flights.
“Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted.”
MPs delayed by the incident were still expected to arrive in Canberra ahead of the midday party room meeting at Parliament House.
