Jetstar flight forced to return to Sydney as cabin crew report strange smell on board

A Jetstar aircraft has been surrounded by fire trucks at a Sydney airport terminal after cabin crew noticed a strange smell shortly into a flight.

Flight JQ517 to Melbourne was about 20 minutes into its journey out of Sydney when cabin crew reported the odour at the rear of the plane.

A Jetstar spokesman said the Airbus A321's captain decided to return to Sydney where emergency crews were scrambled as a precaution.

The plane touched down again at about 2.30pm. The Jetstar spokesman said there were no problems during the landing.

Passenger Rachel Bale told Yahoo7 that very little information was given to those on board.

"There was very little communication to passengers. No one knew what was going on," she said. "The pilot was very vague and called it 'an indication' that we had to return to Sydney."

"It was quite scary when we saw the fire engines surround our plane on the runway, when we had no idea what was happening.”

Passengers then remained on the aircraft as firefighters boarded the plane to investigate.

"They looked to be measuring the air,” Rachel said. "I was pretty nervous and just wanted to get off the plane."

The cause of the strange smell has yet been determined.

The spokesman said Jetstar had a spare jet in Sydney and was working to re-organise flights for affected passengers.

He said major delays were not expected.