A Qantas jet was struck by lightning during a flight in Western Australia on Tuesday, August 9. The Boeing 737 was operating a scheduled passenger service from Perth (PER) to Port Hedland (PHE) when the incident occurred on the descent. The incident was one of three across three days at Qantas in an unlucky trifecta involving their workhorse Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Qantas 737 hit by lightning on approach to Port Hedland on Tuesday

As reported by The Aviation Herald, the Boeing 737-800 registered as VH-XZM was operating Qantas flight QF1206 from Perth to Port Hedland on Tuesday morning. QF1206 is the scheduled 06:55 departure from Perth Airport with a timetabled 08:35 arrival into Port Hedland, approximately 810 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north.

According to the report, the eight-year-old plane was on descent into PHE when the lightning strike occurred at about 19,000 feet. Instead of continuing into Port Hedland, the aircraft diverted to Karratha (KTA) about 120 miles away, landing safely about 20 minutes later.

Qantas Karratha Diversion
Tracking illustrating Tuesday's diversion to Karratha. Image: FlightRadar24.com

"Aircraft are designed to withstand and fly safely when struck by lightning, but it is policy that they get inspected at their arrival port after a strike. At no point was the safety of the flight compromised," said a Qantas spokesperson. A correspondent to The Aviation Herald notes the decision to divert was likely due to the lack of support infrastructure at PHE. Karratha has a staffed air control tower and fire services whereas Port Hedland Airport does not. Karratha Airport also has engineering support, which Port Hedland does not.

"It had to be diverted for an engineering check," confirms the Qantas spokesperson. Twenty-four hours after the incident, the Boeing 737-800 remains on the ground in Karratha. The passengers were re-accommodated on a flight from Karratha to Port Hedland later on Tuesday morning.

On the previous day, another Qantas Boeing 737-800 was involved in a different sort of inflight incident. VH-XZH was climbing out of Queenstown Airport (ZQN) on Monday afternoon operating flight QF186 across to Brisbane (BNE). During the climb, the pilots needed to shut down the left-hand engine for unspecified reasons. Rather than returning to Queenstown, the jet diverted to Christchurch where it remains nearly 48 hours later.

Flames shoot out of Qantas Boeing 737-800 engine on the weekend

Both incidents were overshadowed by a Qantas 737-800 (registration VH-VZJ) issuing a pan-pan alert at Sydney Airport (SYD) on Sunday morning. Seventy-six passengers were buckled up on QF91 bound for Noumea (NOU) when a car trailing the plane at the airport noticed flames shooting out of the right engine.

"Qantas 91 just be advised the car behind you reports some kind of flame coming from the right engine," an air traffic control transcript reads.

"Hope not," says the pilot.

"Qantas 91 affirmative, it's flames," answered air traffic control

"Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan. Qantas 91 stopping on 16 left, require firies," replies the Qantas pilot. Sydney Airport fire services escorted the plane back to the terminal. Qantas later issued a statement saying the pilots followed procedure and quickly shut the engine down. Both Qantas 737-800s involved in the engine incidents are powered by CFMI engines.

"There was no warning light in the cockpit and no sign of fire when the engine was shut down," the Qantas statement says. "Engineers have inspected the aircraft and cleared it to return to service."

Later on Sunday, VH-VZJ operated QF647 to Perth and has since completed multiple revenue flights without incident. On Wednesday, the jet is scheduled to operate QF121 between Sydney and Queenstown.