Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane returned to Perth after circling for 2 hours to reduce the fuel weight.
The flight #VA467 departed Perth Airport on time from runway 21 at 10:35 AWST for a 5-hour flight to Brisbane.
The Boeing 737-700 (registration VH-NBV) stopped the climb at 5,000 ft shortly after takeoff and turned to East. The crew contacted ATC about a technical issue with the aircraft.
The 13-year-old plane climbed to 7,000 ft and started a 2-hour long holding stack to burn fuel and reduce de weight in anticipation of a return to Perth.
The holding pattern was not a common stack as we usually use in aviation. Instead, the flight path was multiple turns over North of Perth.
The Virgin Australia flight finally landed back on runway 21 just 2 hours and 4 minutes after departure and vacated the runway before returning to stand without problem.
Passengers had to switch aircraft. A Boeing 737-800 (registration VH-VUL) is now operating the flight to Brisbane.