Airplane decontamination following blood spill

Photo / file

Fire crews are decontaminating a plane at Auckland International Airport after a vial of blood was spilled.

Crew were unloading the Virgin Samoa, VA91, about 2.30am this morning when they noticed the broken vial.

A fire service spokesman said emergency services arrived on the scene about 3am, and were still at the international terminal.

"There was a small spillage from a small vial of blood sample which was going for testing," he said.

"The guys are still there. The spillage is all cleaned up, there's no major hazard. They're just having to empty out the whole aircraft to make sure there's no cross-contamination."

It's not clear what the blood was to be tested for.

An Auckland Airport spokesman confirmed there was an incident "involving a hazardous substance in the cargo hold" of the Boeing 737.

"The initial informant of the spillage was loading crew who were unloading the aircraft," he said.

"It's common that hazardous goods are carried on board aircraft in certain conditions and they have to meet very stringent safety requirements before they are carried."