Air New Zealand flight to Papeete, Tahiti, hit by lightning strike, returns to Auckland

Air New Zealand flight NZ902 from Auckland to Papeete, Tahiti, was forced to turn around after the plane was struck by lightning 20 minutes after takeoff.

An Air New Zealand flight to Tahiti was forced to turn around after the plane was struck by lightning 20 minutes after takeoff.

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said the lightning strike happened on flight NZ902 from Auckland to Papeete last night at 8.30pm.

“The aircraft returned to Auckland, where our maintenance teams can complete inspections so it can return to service.

All passengers have been rebooked to travel to Papeete today.

“Lightning strike is not uncommon and our pilots are trained for this scenario. All customers have been rebooked to travel to Papeete today.”

Photos on an online flight tracker showed the flight doing loops over the Coromandel before returning to Auckland.

The plane was struck as thunderstorms rattled Auckland and alarmed residents last night.

Powerful booms were heard from the west to the south of the city as a band of turbulent weather passed overhead.

🌧 A band of rain is moving north
🟡 A Heavy Rain Watch is in force for the eastern Bay of Plenty 4pm today - 6am Tuesday
🌦 Showers over south Westland and Southland ease this evening
☀ Sunny for the rest of the South Island, as well as Wellington pic.twitter.com/X7BZmbxVcQ

— MetService (@MetService) December 9, 2024

The Herald understands in West Auckland the thunder was so loud, emergency services were alerted to a possible explosion.

Sky TV also said its transmission was temporarily affected by “atmospheric conditions” at the time.

MetService forecaster Alec Holden said last night a large thunderstorm was moving across Auckland.

“What the hell just happened? Who forgot to let everyone know there was a storm coming,” one person posted to Facebook.

“It was probably the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard in my life,” another said.

“That lightning shook the whole whare,” was another post.

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