A Virgin Australia plane made an emergency landing at Mildura airport at Victoria due to fuel problems in June 2013. The pilot told passengers to brace themselves and keep their heads down and prepared for emergency landing. Despite the fog covering the airport, the pilot had no choice but to bring the plane down at Mildura Airport.

The Virgin plane had 85 passengers onboard and 6 crew members from Brisbane. The plane had diverted from the Adelaide Airport due to foggy conditions.

When the aircraft was approaching Mildure, two pilots of the Virgin Australia aircraft discovered that weather conditions were not as previously reported. The automated weather information service was not working.

The pilots realised the weather was worse than what was originally reported. They heard another plane on the radio has been diverted to Broken Hill due to a missed approach in Mildura.

As the Virgin Australia plane was approaching Mildura, the crew discovered that Qantas 737 pilots were also planning to land. The Qantas plane had less fuel than the Virgin plane.

The pilots of the Virgin aircraft allowed the Qantas plane to make the first approach. The Qantas plane carried 146 passengers from Sydney. The plane landed safely at Mildura.

The report of the Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau indicated that the Virgin pilots told air traffic controllers they would be landing at Mildura since the plane was running out of fuel.

The pilots also said they would be announcing a fuel emergency and prepare for immediate landing. They asked air traffic controllers to send emergency services once the plane touches ground.

The first officer of the Virgin plane noticed visibility was virtually non-existent. The captain focused on flying the plane, while the other pilot provided support by checking the plane's visual position over the ground.

Since the first attempt to approach did not go so well, the first officer told passengers during the second approach to "brace brace brace" as the plane was dropping 600 feet. The touchdown was described as firm.

Upon landing safely, the pilot announced that emergency procedures were no longer needed.

The plane only had 535 kilogrammes of fuel remaining when it landed according to the report. A final incident report will be released in June 2014.

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