---
title: "Qantas flight lands safely at Auckland after mayday call"
description: "Qantas Airways QAN.AX said a fire alert that triggered the pilot of a flight from Sydney to make a mayday call before landing safely at Auckland airport AIA.NZ on Friday was likely a false alarm."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-09-26-qantas-flight-lands-safely-at-auckland-after-mayday-call/"
published: "2025-09-26T04:29:41"
updated: "2025-09-26T04:29:43"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 146
---

# Qantas flight lands safely at Auckland after mayday call

> Qantas Airways QAN.AX said a fire alert that triggered the pilot of a flight from Sydney to make a mayday call before landing safely at Auckland airport AIA.NZ on Friday was likely a false alarm.

By Reuters · Published 26 September 2025, 06:29 SAST · Updated 26 September 2025, 06:29 SAST

## Key points
- In a dramatic twist worthy of a Hollywood script, a Boeing 737 en route from Sydney to Auckland pulled a fire alarm stunt, only for engineers to find the only thing ablaze was the pilot’s nerves, while 156 passengers exited stage left without a hitch.
- A Boeing 737 pilot issued a mayday call for an emergency landing due to potential fire indications in the cargo hold.
- Preliminary investigations revealed no fire in the front cargo hold; engineers will inspect the aircraft for further analysis.
- All 156 passengers safely exited the flight from Sydney to Auckland without incident.
- Auckland airport reported a return to normal operations, though minor delays for flights may persist.

## Content

The pilot of the Boeing BA.N 737 made a mayday call and requested an emergency landing after receiving intermittent indications about a potential fire in the cargo hold, the airline said in a statement.

It added preliminary investigations showed there was no fire in the front cargo hold, and the company's engineers would inspect the aircraft to determine the cause of the incident.

There were 156 passengers on board the flight from Sydney to Auckland, a spokesperson said. The airline said they had all exited the plane.

Auckland airport said in a statement that emergency services were on standby earlier in the morning for an inbound aircraft that reported issues.

"The airfield is now returning to normal but there may be some slight delays for departing and arriving flights," it said.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Jamie Freed)