Melbourne Airport experienced important disruptions Tuesday evening after the Qantas terminal was evacuated due to a fire, leaving arriving flights stranded on the tarmac for extended periods. Flights into and out of the airport were delayed, with a number of cancellations reported to destinations including Brisbane, sydney, and Adelaide.
The ABC’s Craig Dixon was on a flight arriving from Sydney at 7:50pm when the incident occurred.”We landed and were just turning off the runway when we stopped and the captain came on and said we couldn’t go further as there was some sort of incident involving a fire and the terminal had been evacuated,” he said. he reported seeing at least two, possibly three, other planes landing behind his, with the captain stating four flights were queued ahead of them.
According to Dixon, passengers waited approximately one hour before planes began moving under contingency plans. Though, some passengers remained on the tarmac for up to two hours after landing.
Qantas confirmed the delays but did not specify the duration of the disruptions. Melbourne Airport authorities stated the safety of passengers and staff remained their top priority. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed multiple Qantas planes lined up along the tarmac during the evacuation.
