A QANTAS plane en route to Argentina has been forced to return to Sydney after experiencing a problem with the aircraft's electrical system, the latest in a string of incidents for the airline.

QF17, which departed Sydney International Airport at 11.11am (AEDT) today with 199 passengers and 21 crew on board, turned around about one hour into the flight to Buenos Aires, a Qantas spokesman said.

The Boeing 747 landed safely at Sydney Airport at 1:22pm and engineers are inspecting the aircraft to determine the cause of the issue.

Fabiana Sanhueza, 29, was on board the flight and said that half an hour into the trip they hit some turbulence but "thought it was normal".

The captain advised passengers that there was an electrical failure on the main control panel, which Ms Sanhueza said was expelling smoke into the cabin pit.

She said the other passengers were "worried" and the incident has made her concerned about flying again.

“I’m really scared about flying now, especially after what’s been happening with the Qantas aircrafts lately," Ms Sanhueza said.

"I had to take some pills to call me down.”

Ms Sanhueza was given a $30 voucher to have lunch and is due to fly again at 5pm on a different aircraft.

The airline says that reports the plane had lost pressure in the main cabin are incorrect. Oxygen supply to the cabin was not affected.

Qantas said it regrets the inconvenience to passengers and will seek to make alternative arrangements for those affected.

The airline has experienced a string of engine problems lately, with a 767 aircraft bound for Melbourne forced to turn back to Perth on Friday after vibration was detected in one of its engines.

It follows a fiery engine blow-out 11 days ago which grounded Qantas' entire A380 fleet.

Flight QF32 was just minutes in the air from Singapore on November 4 when one of its four Rolls-Royce engines exploded, shooting chunks of metal outwards and damaging the plane's wing.

Qantas has said it does not know when its six A380s will be back in the sky.

The latest incident has been reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Air Transport Safety Bureau.

News.com.au

Yes, not a whole lot of places to land on that polar route, better safe than sorry. Would be interesting to see the ETOPS airfield options for that route.

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