A Batik Air flight destined for a tropical holiday in Bali was forced into a dramatic emergency return to Melbourne on Tuesday morning after one of its engines failed during take-off.
Panic in the Skies Over Melbourne's Suburbs
Flight OD178, operating on a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, had just departed Melbourne for Denpasar when the serious mechanical issue occurred. The plane only managed to reach Melbourne's outer northern suburbs before pilots made the critical decision to turn back towards the airport.
Passengers onboard, many of whom were schoolies heading for end-of-year celebrations, immediately sensed something was wrong. "We took off and the plane didn't really get that high off the ground, kind of stayed pretty low. The take-off was really weird. They were flying low for ages," one passenger recalled. Another noted, "I kind of started to doze and then I get a little bit of a nudge from him going, 'we're not going very high, something's wrong here.'"
A 'Fast and Hard' Landing and Smoking Brakes
Before the aircraft could safely land, the pilots had to circle the Melbourne area to burn off excess fuel, as the 737 cannot dump fuel like larger planes. Upon its return, the scene was tense with emergency crews positioned and waiting.
The plane touched down "fast and hard" according to reports, with its brakes smoking upon landing. Fire trucks immediately met the aircraft on the tarmac. "There were some emergency crews gathering around the plane while we sat there for about half an hour, making sure everything was safe," a passenger said.
A photo taken by a passenger showed visible discolouration in the centre of one of the engines, though the cause of the damage remains unclear. Notably, passengers did not report hearing any loud impact or bang during take-off.
Aftermath and a Plane's 'Chequered History'
The incident involved the Boeing 737 MAX, the same model involved in two fatal crashes overseas. While this engine failure is unrelated to the flight control software issues that caused those tragedies, it did not go unnoticed by nervous flyers. One passenger admitted, "To be truthful, I liked the planes and I was rather nervous. And also it's 737 MAX — bit of a chequered history."
In the aftermath, most passengers were sent home and rebooked on the next available Batik Air flight, which wasn't scheduled until Wednesday. Unwilling to wait, many travellers chose to book with rival airlines instead, leaving them hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
The affected aircraft is now parked in a quiet area of Melbourne Airport, awaiting a thorough inspection by engineers to determine the exact cause of the engine failure.
