Qantas plane en route to London makes emergency landing in Azerbaijan

A Qantas flight from Singapore to London has made an emergency landing in Azerbaijan, as the plane was flying over central Asia, due to concerns there was smoke in the cargo hold, with passengers now worried they could miss Christmas. Flight QF1 landed safely at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev international airport on Friday and was met by emergency services on the runway, after pilots reported 7700 – a code used to communicate an onboard emergency to air traffic controllers. Flight radars show the plane departed Singapore’s Changi airport and had been in the air for about nine hours before it abruptly made a 180-degree turn and issued the emergency code as it was flying over Georgian airspace. A Qantas spokesperson said initial investigations on the ground had yet to find evidence of smoke in the cargo hold. “The aircraft intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential of smoke in the cargo hold. Although it was considered likely to be a sensor fault, the aircraft diverted to Baku as a safety precaution. Initial investigations have found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold,” the spokesperson said. “We thank customers for their patience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.” Engineers were inspecting the aircraft prior to the continuation of the journey, the spokesperson said. Baku airport released a statement via social media stating the emergency landing request was due to smoke generated in the cargo compartment. The statement said there were no injuries and the plane landed at 7.08am local time. There were 356 passengers on board.<br/>