Air NZ passengers prepare for emergency landing

The Boeing 767 had a problem with opening the flaps. Photo / Supplied

Passengers on a flight from Sydney to Auckland faced anxious moments as the pilot warned them to be prepared for an emergency landing.

Air New Zealand flight 106 was near Auckland on Tuesday night when the passengers were told there was a problem with their Boeing 767-300's flaps.

An announcement said they should consult their safety information cards to be prepared to brace themselves properly.

While there was no panic, "everybody was very quiet and rather concerned", said passenger Kevin Donovan.

The flight had been uneventful until the jet was over the Auckland region.

"It was pretty obvious that something was going on because we were circling ... for quite some time," Mr Donovan said.

"Then the pilot came on and made a somewhat unusual announcement. He said, 'For those of you who fly regularly, you probably realise something is up.' And everyone sort of went quiet, like 'what?'

"And he said they couldn't open the flaps, and although that wasn't going to cause a problem with the landing, the landing was going to be extremely high speed, therefore it was an emergency landing situation."

Passengers were told that if they wore spectacles, they were best to take them off and put them in the seat pocket in front, Mr Donovan said.

They were then told to read the safety instructions and "understand the best brace position".

"And I think at that point, everybody was quietly crapping themselves."

The jet seemed to circle for another 15 minutes, and then the passengers were told the crew had managed to partially remedy the problem, meaning it was no longer going to be an emergency landing.

"It obviously meant a lot of relief for everybody, but when we came in to land, we came in pretty bloody fast still. There was a lot of clapping when the plane landed."

A regular flyer, Mr Donovan said he had faced plenty of turbulence before, but never anxiety like this.

"It was quite funny when they said, 'Thank you for choosing the airline voted most popular in the world.' Everyone sort of cracked up and thought, 'Well, I bet it's not so popular with these people on here right now'."

Last night, Air NZ spokesman Mark Street said flight NZ106 experienced trouble with its flaps - which had failed to extend - during its approach to Auckland.

"The pilot kept passengers informed and told them that if the flaps could not be extended properly, the landing would be faster than normal and the procedure was for an emergency landing to be called to air traffic control and for passengers to re-familiarise themselves with the safety instruction card and brace position."

Mr Street confirmed that the crew finally managed to partially extend the flaps, preventing the need for an emergency landing.

The Boeing 767 has since had a switch replaced and is back in service.