PM feared for life in mid-air scare

Helen Clark was travelling in one of Mountain Air's Piper Aztec aircraft. Picture / Mountain Air

The Prime Minister's plane made an emergency landing this morning after a mid-air scare.

Helen Clark said she wondered whether she would "live or die" when a door on her chartered aircraft came open during turbulence above the Kapiti coast.

The Piper Aztec reportedly lost altitude rapidly after the door flung open and diverted to Paraparaumu Airport, near Wellington, where it landed at 9am.

Helen Clark told National Radio she was sitting in the rear of the plane reading her papers on the journey from Rotorua to Wellington when they struck turbulence without any warning.

The sudden movement of the plane dislodged the door and as it began to open, two police officers travelling with Helen Clark grabbed hold of it.

They could not manage to shut the door, so they held on to it through the emergency landing at Paraparumu airport.

"When the plane plunges like that, it's obviously quite shocking," the Prime Minister said.

"When you see the door can't close you know that it is a serious incident.

"But I had full confidence in the way the pilot handled the matter and in the strength of the New Zealand police who did their utmost to hold it".

The Piper Aztec is a small 6-seater passenger plane capable of a cruising speed of 150 knots.

On board the six-seater plane was Helen Clark, two accompanying police officers and her press secretary Kathryn Street.

Helen Clark said the pilot was unable to communicate with the passengers as there was no intercom.

She said everyone involved in the incident was "shaken" but the police officers "performed superbly".

She would not comment on whether the door had been closed properly before take-off, saying that the investigation would look at that question.

A spokesman from the PM's office said she was flung about in the bad turbulence that caused the door to open. Her seat belt restrained her but she was still lifted out of her seat and slammed back with her left elbow taking most of the impact.

A precautionary x-ray was done at Kapiti Medical Centre and the arm was sore but not broken.

Helen Clark was shaken and shocked by the incident, the spokesman said.

A rescue control centre spokeswoman said the aircraft made a distress call shortly before landing at Paraparaumu. Police and fire services were alerted.

Keith McKenzie, managing director of Mountain Air planes, confirmed that the Prime Minister was on one of the company's Piper Aztec planes on a flight from Rotorua to Wellington this morning.

"All we are aware of is that our company was conducting a charter flight around 8.30am and just prior to descending to Wellington there was some turbulence and the front passenger door popped open," he said.

He said that as a precaution the pilot declared an emergency and diverted to the nearest airport.

Helen Clark was in Rotorua last night, speaking to the Grey Power annual conference.

The Civil Aviation Authority was also aware of the emergency and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) will investigate.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB, HERALD ONLINE STAFF