Flight attendant rushed to hospital after bizarre stench forced Qantas flight to turn around and land in Sydney

An ‘unusual smell’ has forced a Qantas plane enroute to New Zealand to turn back and make a priority landing in Sydney, where a cabin crew member was rushed to hospital.

QF163 left Sydney shortly after 6.40pm on Wednesday night but was forced to turn around about an hour into its scheduled three-hour flight to Wellington.

The Boeing 737 was seen touching down at Sydney Airport at about 9.30pm and quickly taxied to a terminal, where it was surrounded by multiple fire trucks and ambulances waiting at the scene.

Paramedics transported a cabin crew member to hospital as precautionary measure.

A spokesperson for Qantas said it was not an emergency landing but a ‘priority one’.

‘A flight from Sydney to Wellington returned to Sydney after reports of an unusual smell in the cabin,’ the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Upon landing a member of the cabin crew was taken to hospital as a ‘precautionary measure’ (stock image)

‘The aircraft landed safely and will be checked by engineers before returning to service.’

Passengers on board will spend the night in Sydney. 

‘Customers will be provided accommodation and re-accommodated onto the next available flight,’ the spokesperson added.

‘We apologise for the disruption to their journey and thank them for their understanding.’

NSW Ambulance confirmed a person was taken to hospital but provided no further details.