Police, fire and ambulance crews are on the scene at Dubbo Airport after a Regional Express (Rex) flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday morning.
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It is believed there were 26 people on board the flight to Sydney, with early indications pointing to engine failure as the cause of the landing.
After departing at 9.33am, the plane landed shortly after 10am after circling Dubbo on multiple occasions.
An announcement made at the terminal in recent minutes has indicated a flight from Parkes to Sydney will divert to Dubbo to take stricken passengers to their destination.
The incident comes less than a week after a propeller detached from a plane on the Albury-Sydney route, about 18 kilometres from Sydney airport
A statement from Orana Local Area Command outlined the incident.
“Police form Dubbo, along with NSW Fire and Rescue and NSW Ambulance officers attended Dubbo Airport about 10am today,” it read.
“It was reported that a Saab 340 aircraft approaching Dubbo, operated by REX Airlines, was experiencing engine trouble and was awaiting emergency landing instructions.
“At the time the aircraft had 23 passengers and 3 crew on-board en-route from Sydney.
“The emergency response plan for airport emergencies was activated and once emergency agencies were in place at the airport; the aircraft made a successful landing with one engine shutdown.
“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.
“The matter will now be investigated by CASA and the aircraft grounded pending the outcome of the investigation.
"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.
On this occasion nothing more was needed from emergency services other than their presence.
“The Dubbo community are lucky to have a well run facility such as the airport and can relish in the knowledge that the emergency services are well-trained and prepared for any emergency that may occur at the airport".
Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesperson Peter Gibson said Rex’s engineers will look at the plane to determine what caused the right hand engine to overheat, before they pass on a report to the CASA.
Mr Gibson said the problem was with the engine and was in no way linked to the propeller.
