An Air NZ flight to Hong Kong was forced to dump fuel as it made a u-turn back to Auckland Airport after an emergency fault in an engine. Video / Brock Fenwick
An Air New Zealand plane was forced to return to Auckland two and a half hours into a flight after a mid-air engine fault was identified.
The pilots then dumped a load of jet fuel, passenger Brock Fenwick told the Herald yesterday.
“Imagine a sort of black smoke, like in the movies when a plane goes crashing down, trails of smoke coming out of the wings. It was pretty much exactly like that - two black trails of smoke,” Fenwick said of the fuel streaming from the aircraft.
Air NZ chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan confirmed flight NZ81, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, bound for Hong Kong on Thursday had to turn around after a fault code pointing to an issue with the engine appeared.
“The aircraft requires the anti-ice function inside one of its engines to be checked by our maintenance team,” Morgan said. “And doing so in Auckland rather than Hong Kong will ensure the aircraft can return to service much faster.
“This did not present a safety risk to passengers on board. Customers will be accommodated on the next available service and we’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding.”
Fenwick said the pilots told passengers over the public address system there was no risk to their safety and explained the apparent issue, quelling any fears he had when he noticed the plane making a sharp turn.
Air New Zealand flight NZ81 was forced to return to Auckland Airport on Thursday due to a fault in an engine. Photo / FlightAware
However, another issue arose before the flight took off from Auckland, with Fenwick saying the flight was initially delayed due to problems with the engine. A spokeswoman for Air NZ said this issue was due a fuel pump being replaced.
“Then that all got cleared up, we got on the plane, then a few hours into the journey my younger brother was like, ‘look at the [in-flight tracking] maps, the plane’s going left’ and then everyone sort of looked around,” Fenwick said.
“About five minutes later we got an [announcement] saying there was no other option, we had to turn around because of the fault on the left wing [engine].”
A spokeswoman for Air NZ confirmed the pilots jettisoned fuel. This made the plane light enough to land safely in Auckland, she said.
Fenwick said: “They [the pilots] explained that it was just a standard thing - and it sort of sprayed out over the wings.”
Fenwick was en route to Sri Lanka with his brother for a cricket tournament. He said it was lucky for them they were going a week early and was thankful his journey was not too badly disrupted.
The U-turn came just two days after Air NZ flight NZ289, bound for Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), was forced to return to Auckland about nine hours after departure due to an engine issue.
Air New Zealand flight NZ289 was forced to divert and return to Auckland Airport on Tuesday morning. Photo / FlightAware
The return was a proactive safety measure, Air NZ chief operating officer Alex Marren said.
“NZ289 from Auckland to Shanghai returned to Auckland this morning as a proactive safety measure due to one of the aircraft’s engines using more oil than usual,” he told the Herald.
“The decision was made to return to Auckland so the aircraft could be checked by our engineering team here to expedite repair.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
