Two emergency landings in one day

Photo / Mark Mitchell

A second Air New Zealand plane was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday after an engine problem.

The aircraft on its way to Auckland was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing in Gisborne yesterday when an engine was shut down.

Ten minutes into the mid-morning direct flight from Gisborne to Auckland, pilots told passengers they had to shut down one of the aircraft's two engines and turn back, a passenger said.

"We were just about over Opotiki when the pilots told us we had to turn around and go back to Gisborne.

"They were very calm at that stage," said the man, who was aboard the Beechcraft 1900D 19-seater with his 16-year-old son.

"We were pretending to be calm but really we were s***ting ourselves. When you actually see the propeller stop, you get a bit worried. My son pointed to it and just shook his head."

The passenger said a couple of people were crying, including a young girl on her first flight.

"The pilots did really, really well .... but the landing was sweet and the pilots were really calm.

"We gave them a clap after we touched down.

Most people on the flight got on to another flight to Auckland about an hour later.

Gisborne Airport staff are looking into the incident but could not comment this morning.

Meanwhile air safety inspectors were today investigating an engine fault on another Air New Zealand plane which scared passengers and prompted an emergency landing.

The plane from Auckland to Wellington dipped and dived after an engine problem shortly into the flight.

It subsequently made an emergency landing at Hamilton Airport, with several fire crews in attendance.

Most of the passengers were sent on a bus back to Auckland where they caught another flight to Wellington.

Air New Zealand said the problem was most likely caused by low oil pressure.

The plane had been taken out of service, and engineers were investigating.

The Civil Aviation Authority has also been informed of the incident.

- NZPA