“[The plane] was wobbling on the tarmac. You know, it was moving from side to side on the tarmac and I thought ‘Hang on, you know, it’s not even in the air, it’s not stable on the tarmac on its wheels’... And I just was sitting there going, ‘Oh God, this is gonna be awful’.”
As the plane took off, she says the entire cabin was shaking, dropping and “feeling as if it was going to roll over”.
“We were sitting at the back of this little plane and these propeller planes and so, of course, you can feel the tail getting battered.”
Gould-Crooke says there was a woman sitting across the aisle from her who she described as “a guardian angel”.
“I was really panicking and she just held my arm and got me breathing and, you know, she said: ‘You’re gonna be fine, you’re gonna be fine’ ... I’m in tears and she was, you know, she was really kind of calming me down and really just doing a good job and she was like a guardian angel.”
Gould-Crooke says she wishes she had got the woman’s full name, instead of only her first name of Maddie, as she was getting off the horror flight.
“I wish I could find her and find out what she does, because everyone needs a Maddie on the plane.”
Simon Morris was also flying to Wellington amid the high winds, but Morris ended up stranded in Auckland as his flight was cancelled.
Luckily, he was able to be put up in a hotel room for the night, but not before a three-and-a-half-hour delay in the airport alongside hundreds of other people who also got stranded.
“I think the Air New Zealand staff on the ground did a good job of being as efficient as they possibly can be and, and good spirits, and, I think, helpful.
“They did a good job in trying circumstances and I’m back in Wellington now so I can’t complain too much.”
He said his flight into Wellington at noon was definitely bumpy and had “one of the hardest landings” he had ever experienced.
“[The pilot] came in from the north, of course, and then did a U turn around the Cook Strait, and as we got quite low to under 10,000 ft it started getting really bumpy.
“That final approach we were bobbling about and there were a few nervous people and then he really slammed it on the deck. It was probably one of the hardest landings I can remember coming to.”
A spokesperson for Air New Zealand said the weather is causing disruption across the domestic network which could take several days to resolve.
“Customers who had their flights cancelled yesterday have been reaccommodated with the next available service. Air New Zealand would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding.”
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer David Morgan said the decision to fly is made in coordination with pilots and operational control personnel.
“Our teams take a number of factors into account including visibility, turbulence, wind, and any conditions on the flight path before making a decision on whether to operate the flight. We always work off the latest available forecasts and reports. Our aircraft are designed to fly in all conditions and our crew are trained for all scenarios.”
Vita Molyneux is a Wellington-based journalist who covers breaking news and stories from the capital. She has been a journalist since 2018 and joined the Herald in 2021.
