A MELBOURNE woman on Los Angeles-bound flight QF93, which diverted to Sydney on Thursday morning, said a crew member asked passengers check to an engine, before the decision to turn around was made.

Jessica McCallum, 29, praised Qantas crew for their handling of the situation, after an emergency light came on in the cockpit of the A380 about an hour into the flight, which departed Melbourne just before 10.15am.

AIRASIA FLIGHT FORCED TO TURN AROUND AFTER TERRIFYING MIDAIR EMERGENCY

“A staff member came over toward our row and asked the people in front if they would mind if they had a look at the engine outside the window,” she told news.com.au while still sitting in her seat on the tarmac at Sydney Airport.

“He then rushed off and we didn’t hear anything for a while.

“We were then told about the oil leak affecting the second engine on the left side.

“We were told we would divert to Sydney and land in 25 minutes.

“We were circling around for ages until the pilot could get the centre of gravity of the plane level just so we could land safely.”

In a statement, Qantas said the captain made the decision to dump fuel and return to Sydney airport to land, after an indicator light came on in the cockpit.

Engineers are assessing the leak and Ms McCallum said passengers had been told

Ms McCallum said passengers had been advised that the flight would continue on Thursday and they had been instructed to stay on the plane while the inspection took place.

“We’re still sitting on the plane at the moment,” she said at 2.30pm, Sydney time.

A Qantas spokesman said the situation was never an emergency situation but a precautionary measure.

“The captain made the decision to land in Sydney to have the fault fixed rather than continuing on the 14-hour flight,” the Qantas spokesman said.

“Our engineers will inspect the aircraft.

“We apologise to passengers for the interruption to their journey but safety is always our first priority. Our focus is now getting them on their way as soon as possible.”

The flight landed safely in Sydney after 1pm.

Flight radar images showed the plane circling off the coast of Sydney at least five times before tracking towards the airport.

The Qantas spokesman said the flight crew noticed the loss of engine oil, which did not force the shut down of the engine but the captain set it to idle and made the decision to return to land to have the fault inspected.

The aircraft has capacity for 484 passengers and is currently undergoing assessment.

The flight departed Melbourne nearly an hour later than scheduled this morning, just before 10.15am.

Ms McCallum, the social media manager at Melbourne’s AnimeLab, is heading to Los Angeles for an Anime Expo with colleagues.

She said an Alaskan student sitting beside her on the plane, Allison Haines, 22, was returning home after studying in Melbourne and would miss her connecting flight.

“She says the trip to Alaska is always long anyway — at least this added some excitement,” Ms McCallum said,

Qantas says #QF93 is not an emergency situation - but they'll know more after it lands in Sydney just before 1pm. Currently dumping fuel. — Robyn Ironside (@ironsider) June 29, 2017

Looks like a very standard procedure to me in response to a technical fault. Altitude steady. Not squawking 7700. pic.twitter.com/ankV0kjrSe — Rae Earl (@RaeEarl) June 29, 2017

More to come.