‘Up in smoke’: Liberal MPs flying to Canberra for net zero meeting forced back to Adelaide | Liberal party
A group of Liberal politicians traveling to Canberra for a party room meeting on net zero emissions policy were forced to return to Adelaide after smoke was detected on Qantas flights.
Senators Leah Blyth and Andrew McLachlan, as well as lower house MP Tony Pasin, were on QantasLink flight 1972 from Adelaide when the crew spotted smoke in the cabin, causing the plane to fly back to Adelaide.
The pilot requested a priority landing and called for assistance. The aircraft was over St Vincent Bay at the time of the incident.
Blyth told Adelaide radio station FIVEAA he had had an “interesting start to the morning” and was “happy to be safe on the ground”.
“It wasn’t terrible,” he said. “It was an unusual situation, but as politicians we fly very often. I’ve never seen the cabin so full of smoke before.”
“Hats off to the Qantas crew who were cool, calm and composed and got us down safely. It smelled like electricity rather than fuel or anything like that.”
Noting the importance of the specially planned meeting in Canberra, where Liberal MPs will decide whether to abandon net zero policies to align with Coalition partners the Nationals, Blyth noted that the funny coincidence of the smoke had delayed the group’s arrival in Canberra.
“We were joking that the net zero debate had been reduced to ashes,” he told the Adelaide Advertiser.
The meeting is a test for opposition leader Sussan Ley and her efforts to unite the warring factions of the Liberal party.
Blyth and Pasin are among MPs who want the Liberals to deliver on net zero by 2050, while McLachlan is part of the moderate group trying to preserve the Scott Morrison-era promise on the environment.
The plane left Adelaide at 6.10am local time but had to return approximately 10 minutes after takeoff. Engineers were inspecting the plane and passengers were booking new flights.
Qantas said significant smoke was visible on the flight deck after takeoff and the captain requested a priority landing.
“One of our flights from Adelaide to Canberra returned to Adelaide shortly after departure this morning after reporting a technical issue,” a spokesman said.
“The aircraft landed safely and our engineers will check the aircraft today. All customers on board have since been moved to alternative flights.”
“Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this, and after proper procedures were followed, the aircraft landed safely.”
MPs delayed by the incident were expected to arrive in Canberra ahead of the noon party room meeting at Parliament House.
