Flight Over Pacific Forced To Turn Back To LAX Due To Mechanical Issue

LOS ANGELES, CA —For the second time in two months, a flight from Los Angeles to Australia had to turn back over the Pacific Ocean for safety reasons Wednesday.

Each time, the planes have been hours from land when mechanical issues arose.

Red-eye Qantas flight QF16 was headed to Brisbane, Australia after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. It returned to LAX around 2:30 a.m. and requested priority landing, according to authorities. It was not an emergency landing, according to a Qantas spokesperson added.

“The pilots followed normal procedures and returned to LA,” the company said in a statement. “Customers have been provided accommodation and have been rebooked on alternative flights today.”

In October, an American Airlines flight to Sidney made an emergency landing at LAX Thursday after a cabin warning light went off, according to the airline.

An American Airlines spokesperson later described the warning light as a false alarm.

City News Service contributed to this report.