Virgin Australia flight makes mayday call after take-off at Melbourne Airport and forced to make emergency landing

Published: 23:31, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 23:57, 15 June 2026 A Virgin Australia flight bound for Perth was forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne on Monday night after crew reported an issue with one of the aircraft's engines shortly after take-off. The Boeing 737 had departed Melbourne just after 6pm and was still climbing when pilots issued a mayday distress call. Early reports suggested there may have been an engine fire, prompting the crew to turn the aircraft around and return to Tullamarine airport. Emergency services were placed on standby as the plane approached the runway, however no signs of a fire were detected when the aircraft landed safely. All passengers and crew disembarked without incident and were later transferred onto another flight to Perth. A Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed the aircraft had experienced a technical issue and was undergoing inspection by engineers before being returned to service. The airline apologised to passengers for the disruption. The incident comes as aviation authorities continue to investigate the cause of the engine problem. A Virgin Australia flight bound for Perth was forced to make an emergency landing in Melbourne on Monday night after crew reported an issue with one of the aircraft's engines shortly after take-off No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.