A Qantas Boeing 737-800 has made an emergency landing in Auckland after the crew were alerted to a possible fire in the cargo hold. The aircraft eventually landed safely, with all 156 passengers disembarking without injury.
The incident unfolded as Qantas flight QF141 headed from Sydney Airport (SYD) to Auckland International Airport (AKL) on September 26, 2025. The flight was being operated by one of the airline’s 76-strong fleet of Boeing 737-800s, registered as VH-VZE. The aircraft is currently 17.3 years old, according to Planespotters.net.
The flight had departed Sydney at 07:25, 15 minutes behind schedule for the two-hour and 30-minute flight across the Tasman Sea to Auckland. However, as the aircraft approached its destination, the crew of the Boeing 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.
After being given a priority approach and landing at Auckland, the aircraft touched down normally at 11:47 local time. The airport fire and rescue department was dispatched to the aircraft, where an inspection was carried out. Auckland Airport said in a statement that emergency services were placed on standby earlier in the morning on September 26 for an inbound aircraft that had reported issues.
Following the external inspection of the aircraft by the emergency responders, it was determined that there was no active fire in the cargo hold of the aircraft and that passengers were safe to leave the aircraft via steps, rather than via the emergency slides. Qantas later announced that the fire alert received by the crew was a false alarm.
The airline added that 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. “The airfield is now returning to normal, but there may be some slight delays for departing and arriving flights,” added the airport authority.
Qantas flight lands safely at Auckland after mayday call https://t.co/Gt7xnimsLt pic.twitter.com/NdG9yOQGDw
— Alma Angeles (@AlmaANET25) September 26, 2025
A passenger, Troy Balzan, told the NZ Herald that he was travelling from Sydney to Auckland for an international sports fixture. He said he was waiting for the water from the fire appliances to come on and the emergency slides to be deployed, but that never happened.
“They just said there was a smoke alarm that had gone off in the cargo bay, and we’re just taking precautions and things. They were very good about it all, kept us informed, and we landed safely.”
Couple Fuschia Bituniwaidranu and Mitchell Greenaway also told the NZ Herald they were nervous as the plane arrived in Auckland. “The pilot announced that there was a blinking light on this dashboard that signalled heat,” Bituniwaidranu said. “They had an alert that there was some sort of smoke or heat coming from somewhere.
At the time of writing, the aircraft involved remains on the ground at Auckland Airport, with the return leg to Sydney being cancelled as a result of the fire incident.
