The crew involved with the emergency landing of a flight out of Dubbo have been congratulated for their skill during the incident.
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Emergency services were called to Dubbo airport after a Regional Express (REX) flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday morning.
There were 26 people on board the flight to Sydney when the pilot reported a right engine failure alert.
The aircraft, with 23 passengers and three crew on board, departed at 9.22am, and landed at 10.12am after circling the airport multiple times.
Dubbo Regional Council director corporate development Ken Rogers offered his congratulations to the crew for their skill and professionalism, as well as to the emergency services for their prompt response.
“I also wish to congratulate Natalie Nissan who is acting airport operations manager and her staff Ken Fisher and David Croker for the calm and professional way that they handled what could have been a disastrous situation,” Mr Rogers said.
A statement from REX said at this stage it was not possible to tell whether the cause was from foreign object ingestion or from engine failure.
The incident comes less than a week after a propeller detached from a plane on the Albury-Sydney route.
However, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesperson Peter Gibson said Thursday’s incident was in no way linked to propeller troubles with other planes.
Mr Gibson said REX’s engineers would look at the plane to determine what caused the right hand engine to overheat, before they passed on a report to the CASA.
A statement from Orana Local Area Command said emergency services attended the scene after it was reported a Saab 340 aircraft was experiencing engine trouble and was awaiting emergency landing instructions.
“The emergency response plan for airport emergencies was activated and once emergency agencies were in place at the airport,” the statement read.
“The aircraft made a successful landing with one engine shutdown.”
Police said the captain described the landing as ‘normal’ and according to procedure.
“None of the passengers or crew were injured and none presented for treatment to NSW Ambulance staff,” said the statement.
"The response from the emergency services and airport staff was both professional and organised and well prepared for any outcome that may have occurred as a result of the aircraft landing under unfavorable conditions such as the engine failure.
Police said the community were lucky to have a well-run facility such as the airport.
