Fuel leak closes Wellington runway

A fire warning indication light sparked an alert on an aircraft about to land at Wellington early this afternoon.

But although the aircraft landed safely, a fuel leak caused Wellington Airport's runway to be closed for half an hour and planes bound for Wellington had to be diverted to other airports.

Pilots on Mount Cook flight NZ5038 from Dunedin to Wellington were alerted to a fire warning light just before touchdown.

"Following standard operating procedures the pilots requested the airport fire service to inspect the aircraft," an airline spokeswoman said.

"The ATR aircraft landed without incident and the engine was shutdown on the runway. There was no evidence of smoke or fire."

An inspection by engineers also found no trace of fire.

Once checked the plane taxied to the gate for 61 passengers to disembark.

Engineers had completed a full inspection of the right hand side engine of the plane and confirmed there was no evidence of a fire.

"There was leakage discovered in a fuel line, with the potential that this caused a flash as the fuel dripped onto the exhaust pipe," the spokeswoman said.

Engineers were fixing the leak.

About 20 flights had been delayed or cancelled by the incident.

- NZPA