Cracked plane windscreen grounds Air New Zealand flight in Rotorua

A cracked windscreen has grounded an Air New Zealand plane, not pictured, at Rotorua Airport overnight. Photo / Grant Bradley

A cracked windscreen has grounded an Air New Zealand plane at Rotorua Airport overnight until it can be replaced.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews were called to Rotorua Airport at 7pm following reports an Air New Zealand plane from Wellington, NZ8232, had to land with a cracked windscreen.

They arrived on the scene and the plane had landed safely, a FENZ spokesman said.

Pilots followed standard operating procedure and reduced altitude as a precaution, an Air New Zealand spokeswoman said.

An aircraft windscreen was made up of layers of separate panes of glass which minimises the impact a crack in one layer poses to the integrity of the windscreen, the spokesperson said.

The aircraft landed in Rotorua without incident.

"To be clear, this was not an emergency landing, the pilots called a local standby as a precautionary measure."

Engineers would replace the aircraft's windscreen tomorrow, the spokesperson said.