On the 23rd of September 2009 a very rare weather event occurred on the east coast of Australia. The dust storm originated in regional NSW on the 22nd, reaching Canberra that day and then Sydney early on the 23rd. Approximately 15 aircraft inbound to Sydney were forced to divert to Brisbane. At around 11am the dust storm started to affect South-East Queensland.
Brisbane remained open, however flights to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts were diverted to Brisbane. By 1pm the dust storm was right over Brisbane and turned the sky completely red, it was an amazing sight! Visibility was terrible in Brisbane. From the loop you could hear aircraft arriving on RWY19, but you could only see them for a split second as they passed in front of the loop! On the ATC the pilots had to tell the controllers where they were because they couldn't see the aircraft!
Anyway, here are a few photos from the day.
United Boeing 747-400 N122UA (UA863 SFO-SYD)
JAL Boeing 777-200ER JA710J (JL771 NRT-SYD)
Delta Boeing 777-200LR N706DN (DL17 LAX-SYD)
Qantas Boeing 747-400 VH-OJP (QF128 HKG-SYD)
Qantas Airbus A330-200 VH-EBG (QF130 PVG-SYD)
Qantas Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEF (QF12 LAX-SYD)
Panorama of "The loop" as the dust storm begins affecting Brisbane
Jetstar Airbus A320 VH-VGP taxiing out in the dust
Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER ZK-OKH
Qantas Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEJ "Wunala Dreaming" (QF74 SFO-SYD)
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