A Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Bucharest on its way to Doha at the weekend because of a faulty engine, it has been reported.
The plane was carrying 254 passengers from Oslo to Doha on July 9, but was forced to change course and land in Romania three hours into the scheduled six-hour flight.
According to an incident report published in the Aviation Herald, the crew was advised it needed to shut down an engine and was told the plane could make right turns only.
The plane – flight QR-180 – diverted to Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport, dumped fuel and landed safely, the report said.
Qatar Airways then dispatched a replacement Boeing 787-800 to Bucharest and resumed the flight, which was delayed by approximately 12 hours.
Meanwhile, the Dreamliner with the faulty engine remained on the ground at Bucharest. Romanian aviation website Aeronews.ro tweeted pictures purporting to show the plane landing at the airport.
Some passengers tweeted their frustration at the 12-hour delay, claiming they were stranded at Bucharest airport for seven hours with no news of when their flight would be resumed.
A Qatar Airways spokesperson was quoted as telling Doha News: “As a precaution, the flight diverted to Bucharest where it landed and taxied under its own power, and the passengers were provided onward travel.”
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has suffered problems with its engine in recent years. In April, the Federal Aviation Adminstration ordered airlines including Qatar Airways to carry out urgent fixes by October due to an engine icing problem.
It followed an incident in January when one of the two engines on a Japan Airlines 787 shut down mid-flight. The pilot was able to land the plane safely using one engine.
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