Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd confirmed Wednesday that an engine explosion over the Pacific Ocean forced an Australia- bound Boeing 747-400 to return to San Francisco for an emergency landing, dpa reported.
One of the four engines exploded, blowing a hole in the casing, and was shut down 45 minutes into the flight.
Qantas spokesman David Epstein said none of the 230 people aboard was harmed, and the plane made a normal landing in San Francisco.
"The fact is, very occasionally, engines do fail on aircraft, and, in fact, it's a testament to the skill of our engineers and our flight crew that they would bring this aircraft home quite safely," he said.