A Sydney-Texas Qantas flight has been forced to turn around halfway into its journey due to a medical emergency.
Four hours after leaving Australian shores for Dallas, Qantas flight QF7 was forced to divert over the waters of the North Fiji Basin and return to Sydney Airport.
Australian Olympic diver Sam Fricker, 23, was on board and documented the strange roundabout journey on Instagram.
Fricker also recorded the plane dumping fuel in mid-air. The flight was carrying too much fuel to land in Fiji so the pilots chose to return to Australia.
“We’re currently dumping fuel,” Fricker said.
“We flew out from Sydney four hours ago, had to do a complete turnaround due to a medical emergency.
“Now of course sad to see them dumping fuel over the ocean.
“It’s a tough time for fuel, I can’t imagine how expensive this is for them, but it goes to show the cost of a human life – a human life is priceless so its worth it.”
The emergency turnaround comes as Australia deals with soaring fuel costs due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Flicker posted a separate video with the caption: “POV: you flew 8h over the ocean just for the love of the game?”
Qantas said the flight returned to Sydney so the passenger could receive medical treatment where the airline had more resources.
The flight was rescheduled and departed Sydney again on Sunday about 9.25pm.
“Safety will always be our number one priority and we thank customers on the flight for their patience and understanding,” Qantas said in a statement.
