June 12, 2017

A China Eastern Airlines flight bound for Shanghai made an emergency landing today at their initial departure point in Sydney after a hole appeared in the engine. No injuries were reported.

Fortune reported:

A technical failure, which left a gaping hole in an engine casing, forced a China Eastern flight to turn back to Sydney around an hour after takeoff.

Flight MU736, which is an Airbus A330-200 twin jet, landed back in the Australian city after the mid-air emergency on Sunday. Kathy Zhang, general manager for the Oceania region at China Eastern Airlines, told Reuters that no injuries were reported.

Passengers told Australia’s Seven News that they heard a loud sound shortly after take off followed by burning smells. “All of a sudden we heard this noise… it kind of smelt like burning” a passenger told Seven News network.

Images on social media showed a large hole on the engine casing that is more than 3ft long.

According to Reuters:

An Airbus spokesman said the company was in contact with Rolls-Royce [the plane’s engine manufacturer] to determine what occurred, and it would support the investigation into the incident.

Professor Jason Middleton, an aviation expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said it appeared that the engine cowling had been ripped away forward of the main compressor blade.

“When one of these things happens you often don’t know how the damage began. It could have begun from loose screws,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp News.

China Eastern’s Zhang said a comprehensive investigation would involve aviation authorities from Australia and China.

Ground-handling company Cathay Pacific had inspected the plane before take off, Zhang said. The company was not immediately available for comment.

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