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Qantas jumbo's engine flame Steve Creedy, Aviation writer January 18, 2006 A FULLY laden Qantas jumbo was forced to dump fuel and return to Sydney yesterday after flames were seen trailing from one of its engines. QF249 had just taken off for Los Angeles with 316 passengers on board when there was a bang and flames came from the right inboard engine. The 747-400's controls also showed there was a power problem with one of the engines, a Qantas spokesman said. He added that there was "a brief flame" but could not comment on reports that a fire in the engine was extinguished by the onboard suppressant system. "There was a loud bang and we're investigating the cause," he said. "A likely scenario is an engine surge, which is caused by a disturbance in the engine's air flow. We're conducting a full inspection and the cause won't be known until that's undertaken." According to one report, the incident was widely seen by residents of Sydney's northern suburbs, but police said they had not received calls about it. The aircraft was put into a holding pattern over the Tasman Sea so it could dump fuel before returning to Sydney to land safely about 4.40pm.



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