According to flight data, Singapore Airlines flight SQ228 departed from Melbourne Airport at 4:51 p.m. but shortly after takeoff, the aircraft circled north of Melbourne and then returned to the airport.
Listeners of radio station 3AW reported witnessing the plane flying at a low altitude over the city’s eastern suburbs.
“The plane just flew over our house moments ago. It was so low that you could see its wheels down, and I even waved to the passengers as they passed overhead,” shared 3AW caller Sam.
“I’ve never seen a plane flying that low before. It was quite frightening,” Sam added.
Video footage captured the moment the aircraft jettisoned fuel as it made its return to the airport.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines explained, “Since the aircraft needed to return shortly after taking off, the pilots had to release fuel to ensure a safe landing within the required weight limits.”
“We saw it do a turn really low and I looked it up, it was at 6900 feet dumping fuel and yeah, redirecting back to Melbourne,” Kinglake resident Gordon told 3AW.
The plane landed safely without incident at Melbourne Airport about 5.50pm.
The Boeing 777-300ER with 219 customers and 17 crew “landed uneventfully”, the airline said.
“All customers disembarked the aircraft normally.”
Passengers were being given meal vouchers as ground engineers try to fix the technical issue.
