Bird-strike sparks emergency at Queenstown Airport

A Boeing 737 was forced to turn around shortly after it took off from Queenstown Airport after a bird-strike sparked a full scale emergency services call out yesterday.

Air New Zealand public affairs spokeswoman Rosie Paul said the aircraft -- which was bound for Auckland -- was forced to turn around after a bird flew into an engine during take-off, about 3.30pm, the Otago Daily Times reported.

The plane, carrying 109 passengers, landed without incident and will now be the subject of a full inspection, Ms Paul said.

Airport manager David Scott said passengers were quite calm after the incident and cabin crew had kept them well informed of the situation.

The airport did have bird scarers, managed by the Queenstown Airport Corporation, and this was the first incident of bird-strike Mr Scott said he had encountered.

Passengers were rebooked on other flights after the Boeing 's remaining flights from Auckland to Christchurch were cancelled.

- NZPA