An Air New Zealand flight forced to divert to the Pacific island of Guam on Friday because of an “unidentified odour” in the cabin has returned safely to New Zealand.
A passenger on flight NZ78 said they were forced to wait on the plane for five hours upon arrival due to an “electrical kind of smell.
“We had no details on what was going on.”
Passengers had to wait until the following morning to fly out.
On Sunday, Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said engineers had completed a full service on the area of the aircraft where the odour was identified.
“The checks all came up clear and following a short verification flight operated by our crew, the aircraft was cleared to continue on to Auckland. The safety of our customers and our people is our number one priority, so it was important to run through these engineering checks as a precaution. The aircraft arrived safely in Auckland at 6.55am this morning.
“Our team worked to provide accommodation for as many customers as possible overnight in Guam. Those who booked their own accommodation will be able to claim compensation for associated costs.”
Morgan said Air New Zealand apologised to customers impacted by the diversion and thanked them for their patience.
“We appreciate this was not an ideal scenario and thank them for their understanding while we worked to find a solution as quickly as possible.”
Morgan earlier said the flight diverted to Guam due to the odour because the problem couldn’t be resolved in-flight.
“The flight arrived safely in Guam at 2.30am this morning [local time].
“Our team are working closely with customers on board to ensure they are taken care of and are working on options to get them to their destination as quickly as possible.”
Guam is a territory controlled by the United States in the Northern Mariana Islands, about 6000km from New Zealand.
The man is now in a critical but stable condition in hospital.