Gross over-reaction again from the press and some passengers
!! (In 16,000 hrs of flying I've experienced a "plummet")
Passengers screamed as an Air New Zealand plane plummeted for several seconds when one of its engines failed during a flight.
About 95 passengers and five crew members were on the Boeing 737 during the early-morning flight from Auckland to Wellington yesterday.
Nobody was hurt but the plane made an emergency landing at Hamilton Airport, where three fire crews were on standby.
Sarah Craven, 25, was in a seat next to the right engine when it suddenly shut down about half-way through the flight.
"There was a burst of flame and some smoke and then the whole plane shuddered. We plummeted left for about three seconds and then straightened up."
She and other passengers were terrified.
"Lots of people went, `Oh my God!', or yelped. A few people started crying. The poor guy in front of me had a panic attack and needed an oxygen mask."
Passengers were left wondering what had happened for several minutes till crew righted the plane and were able to reassure everyone they could land safely with one engine.
"The pilot came on and said, `We've lost the right engine but we've practised this procedure hundreds of times'."
The plane began heading back to Auckland, but ended up landing in Hamilton because a few passengers were still very distressed, Miss Craven said.
Crew members were "amazing". "I don't know how they stayed so chipper."
Once the plane had landed, some passengers were ferried back to Auckland by bus so they could be rebooked on other flights. Others chose to rent cars to drive the rest of the way to Wellington.
Mike O'Donnell, who was sitting near the front of the aircraft, said that after landing in Hamilton the pilot told passengers it was the first time an Air New Zealand 737 had had a total loss of engine. "[He said] we were part of history."
An Air New Zealand spokesman said engineers were investigating the cause of the engine failure, possibly low oil pressure.
- The Dominion Post