The pilot of a Boeing 737 Freighter operated by Qantas unit Express Freighters Australia was incapacitated during an emergency descent on Wednesday (15 August).
An investigation is being carried out into the incident by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) who said the aircraft was cruising between Brisbane and Melbourne when the crew received a “wing body overheat” warning.
The ATSB said that resulted in the cabin depressurising and the crew donned oxygen and descended to 20,000 feet. As a result, the first officer was subsequently incapacitated and the Captain descended to 8,000 feet and diverted the aircraft to Canberra.
The ATSB added: “As part of the investigation, the ATSB will collect and examine information from the aircraft flight data recorders and interview maintenance and flight crew. A final report will be released at the end of the investigation.
“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify those affected and seek safety action to address the issue.”
