‘Terrifying’: Qantas passengers evacuate plane after cabin fills with fumes

‘This would have been a very unusual and probably alarming experience for our customers,’ says airline

Qantas's emergency slides were deployed (Twitter/Dillon Parker)

Passengers onboard a Qantas flight had to be evacuated using slides after the plane cabin filled with a “thick haze”.

Flight QF575 from Sydney to Perth in Australia was forced to turn back 20 minutes after takeoff and land at Sydney due to a hydraulic fluid leak.

Although some passengers reported seeing smoke, there was no fire, according to the Australian flag carrier.

Instead, the fumes were likely caused by hydraulic fluid entering the aircraft’s air conditioning unit on the 15 December service.

People also reported they could “smell burning,” passenger Dillon Parker told the New Daily.

Passenger Ally Kemp called the experience “terrifying”, writing on social media: “Just had to evacuate my flight to Perth after engineering issues. Everyone had to exit the plane via slide onto Sydney tarmac after the cabin filled with smoke and the captain screamed evacuate.”

The captain gave the order to evacuate the Airbus A330 after receiving a cockpit alert for one of three hydraulic systems onboard, with passengers using the emergency slides and the airbridge to exit into the terminal.

Two passengers were treated for injuries sustained when using the slides while another was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Some travellers reported experiencing sore eyes and itchy throats.

“We totally understand this would have been a very unusual and probably alarming experience for our customers, so we thank them for giving crew their full cooperation,” fleet safety captain Debbie Slade said in a statement.

“The crew did a great job of putting their training into action and following the procedures for a set of circumstances like this.

“We’ll investigate exactly what happened, including liaising with Airbus, before this aircraft is returned to service.”

The airline has said it is providing support to customers on the affected flight and managing delays to other flights impacted by the incident.

Qantas has also said it will assist the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) with its investigations.