A passenger plane flying from New Zealand landed safely in Sydney on Wednesday after sparking concern when it issued a mayday distress signal over the Pacific Ocean.
The Qantas Airways flight from Auckland issued the alert due to an issue with one of its engines, while flying over the vast sea an hour from its destination of Sydney, a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement issued prior to landing.
The mayday signal, which indicates grave and imminent danger, was downgraded to “Possible Assistance Needed” before landing, the spokesperson added.
Emergency services met the plane - a Boeing 737-800 jet, thought to be capable of carrying around 190 people - when it landed at Sydney airport around 3.30pm local time (4.30am in the UK).
Qantas said it would share more information once the aircraft had been assessed by its engineers.
