Liberal MPs flying to Canberra for net zero emissions meeting forced back as Qantas flight fills with smoke

A group of Liberal politicians headed to Canberra for a party room meeting on net zero emissions policy has been forced to return to Adelaide after smoke was detected on their Qantas flight.

Senators Leah Blyth and Andrew McLachlan, as well as lower house MP Tony Pasin, were on board QantasLink flight 1972 from Adelaide when the crew saw smoke in the cabin, prompting the plane to fly back to Adelaide and issue a call for assistance.

The pilot requested a priority landing and issued a call for assistance. The plane was over the St Vincent Gulf at the time of the incident.

Blyth told Adelaide radio FIVEAA she had “an interesting start to the morning” and that she was “happy to be safe on the ground”. Asio accuses Chinese hackers of seeking access to Australia’s criticial infrastructur