Burning smell, prayers, panic on board troubled plane

Photo / Paul Estcourt

WELLINGTON - The smell of burning rubber, panic and prayers filled an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 forced into an emergency landing at Wellington today.

Flight NZ535, carrying 95 people from Auckland to Christchurch, ran into trouble "about 10 minutes" after takeoff, a passenger said tonight.

He said jetstream coming over the engine on the aircraft's right-hand side turned from white to grey, then black.

The smell of burning rubber filled the cabin, causing panic among the passengers, he said.

The plane was diverted to Wellington landing safely at 4pm after the pilot called for emergency services to be on hand at the airport.

"It was pretty scary. A few people were panicking ... not screaming, but just a bit fidgety, looking around at everyone," the passenger told Radio New Zealand.

"A few of us were wondering what was going on.

"I'm a bit religious, and I was definitely saying a few prayers on the way down, I'll put it that way."

An Air NZ spokeswoman told NZPA the plane diverted to the capital after the smell of smoke was detected.

The passengers had disembarked while engineers were investigating the source of the smoke.

- NZPA