Qantas passengers stranded in Azerbaijan after mid-flight medical emergency forces urgent diversion

A Qantas flight has been forced to make a “dramatic” diversion to Azerbaijan, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

The A380 aircraft was flying from London to Singapore when a medical episode forced the plane to land early.

“Our London to Singapore service diverted to Baku in Azerbaijan yesterday due to a medical incident onboard,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

“We apologise to customers for the disruption and are working to get them on their way to Singapore as soon as possible.”

An Australian doctor and passenger on board, Hamish Urquhart, told the ABC that the flight was diverted after a woman in her 60s suffered a cardiac episode.

“The lady was really quite unwell and needed intravenous access while we were trying to land, which was a bit challenging,” Dr Urquhart said.

He confirmed he was able to bring the woman into a stable condition with the assistance of other medical professionals on board.

Mr Urquhart revealed the pilot had to make a “dramatic 180-degree turn” to make a safe landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku.

Another passenger, Nick Phillips, told the ABC that the handling of the situation was chaotic and confusing.

“It took five hours to exit the plane, then three hours to wait for a visa to come through, and finally a two-hour trip to a hotel,” he explained.

While Qantas confirmed passengers would receive accommodation, Mr Phillips said that passengers were split between hotels based on where they were seated on the plane.

“Simply because I was sitting at the back of the plane, about 60 to 80 of us are in a shoddy and dirty hotel, while others are at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton,” he revealed.

It is understood that passengers will board a new flight on Tuesday morning as the operating crew had reached their maximum hours for the day.