A Tiger Air Australia Airbus A320-200, registration VH-VNG performing flight TT-612 from Sydney,NS to Coolangatta,QL (Australia), was enroute at FL290 about 90nm southsouthwest of Coffs Harbour,NS (Australia) when the crew reported smoke in cockpit and cabin and decided to divert to Coffs Harbour. The aircraft landed safely on Coffs Harbour’s runway 03 about 20 minutes later, vacated the runway and stopped. Emergency services checked the aircraft. The passengers disembarked via stairs.
The remainder of the flight and the return flight TT-615 were cancelled.
The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for 8 hours, then positioned back to Sydney and resumed service about 19 hours after landing in Coffs Harbour.
A ground observer reported that fire engines and ambulances were alerted for smoke in cockpit and cabin and were surrounding the aircraft when the passengers disembarked via stairs.
On Jan 21st 2017 the airline reported: “A Tigerair service (TT612) from Sydney to Gold Coast diverted to Coffs Harbour Airport yesterday after an unusual odour was detected in the cabin during the flight. The flight landed safety at Coffs Harbour Airport without incident at around 1:30pm AEDT and emergency services were on standby to meet the aircraft which is standard procedure for an event of this nature. Safety is the airlines’ first priority and always comes before schedule. The airline has robust procedures in place to ensure the highest standards of safety are maintained at all times. The aircraft underwent engineers’ assessment in Coffs Harbour and was cleared to resume services, same day (8pm local time). Aircraft flew back to Sydney last night departing around 9pm (CFS) and resumed normal operations from first wave early this morning.”
