Two Qantas flights return to Sydney airport after technical issues

Two Qantas planes heading for Dallas and Johannesburg respectively were forced to return to Sydney airport after separate problems. Airbus A380 QF7 took off from Kingsford Smith Airport just before 2pm, bound for Dallas Fort Worth in the United States but flight radars detected the plane circling and dumping fuel following a “technical issue”. The flaps on the wings were unable to retract, making it difficult for the aircraft to fly efficiently. “As the Dallas flight is our longest on the network, the captain made the decision to return to Sydney,” Qantas said. The plane landed at Sydney airport safely on Friday afternoon, after dumping fuel off the coast of Wollongong. It was met by three airport firefighting crews. QF63 Sydney to Johannesburg was a few hours into its flight when an issue was discovered, a Qantas spokeswoman said. A pane of glass on the aircraft’s windscreen was cracked, Qantas said. Only the outer of three layers of glass was affected, and the crack “did not compromise the integrity of the aircraft”, the airline said. The plane has landed safely in Sydney. QF63 did not dump fuel.<br/>