Flight turned back over ‘severe turbulence’ in Dunedin, another hit by lightning

Challenging weather conditions are affecting Air New Zealand flights, with one struck by lightning and forced to turn around, and another unable to land because of strong winds.

Several passengers vomited as they came into land in Dunedin during severe turbulence, Radio New Zealand reported.

Air NZ chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said both flights had landed safely.

Flight NZ613 from Auckland to Queenstown was struck by lightning off the coast of Taranaki this morning.

“Given the aircraft’s location and the availability of engineering support and spare aircraft, the decision was made to divert back to Auckland, where the aircraft landed safely a short time later,” Morgan said.

A plane was hit by lightning and forced to turn around. Photo / Flightradar24

Lightning strikes were “not uncommon, and our pilots do train for this scenario”.

Engineers were checking the plane and passengers had been transferred to another aircraft, which had left Auckland.

Further south, flight NZ681 from Wellington to Dunedin had trouble landing and returned to the capital.

Pilots “attempted to land in Dunedin but [were] unable to due to strong winds,” Morgan said.

“As such, the aircraft returned to Wellington and the subsequent NZ686 flight has been cancelled. Our customer care and airport teams are working to re-accommodate customers in both Wellington and Dunedin on the next available services.”

Morgan said: “We thank customers for their patience while we work to get them to their destinations”.

“Customers travelling across our network today should keep an eye on the Air NZ app or ensure contact details in flight bookings are correct so we can keep customers informed of any changes.”

An airport announcement said it was due to severe turbulence and wind shear.

MetService has a strong wind watch in place for coastal areas of Dunedin and Clutha until 5pm today for possible severe southwest gales in exposed places.

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