Qantas Plane ‘Nosedives’ Over Pacific Due to Wake Turbulence
- Two Qantas A380s were heading to Australia from Los Angeles
- One passenger recalls a terrifying 10-second freefall
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A Qantas Airways Ltd. A380 superjumbo suddenly lost altitude for about 10 seconds more than 30,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean after flying through the wake of another plane.
Flight QF94, two hours after taking off from Los Angeles to Melbourne on the night of June 10, plunged upon hitting the wake turbulence of another Qantas A380 that was on its way to Sydney, the Australian airline said in a statement. No injuries were reported. The planes were separated by 20 nautical miles and 1,000 feet in altitude.