A second emergency landing of a Bombardier Q300 plane in Blenheim has so far failed to spark any widespread concerns about continued use of the aircraft, used extensively by Air Nelson.
The 41 passengers onboard the Air Nelson flight from Hamilton to Wellington all went into the brace position as the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Blenheim Airport after it's front landing gear failed yesterday afternoon.
Some were bused to Nelson Airport last night where they reboarded alternative flights. Elderly passengers Adair, Neil and Finlay Bruce had been on their way to see family in Dunedin. They were still quite shaken by the ordeal when they spoke with the Nelson Mail.
"We were all thinking that was the end, or I was," Mrs Bruce said, tears welling in her eyes.
Michelle Te Wharau, a Hamilton-based road safety engineer who was heading to Wellington for work, said the plane started circling when they arrived in Wellington and this was when the pilot identified there was a problem with the front landing gear. He tried to rectify it and couldn't.
The crew kept calm throughout, keeping passengers informed, giving pillows and blankets to young children onboard and moving some people to the back of the plane, she said. "At no time did you feel them panicking."
Passengers were directed through the emergency procedures, putting their heads down in the brace position as the plane came in to land in Blenheim. It was during this time that some of the children started to cry and there were a few teary eyes amongst some other passengers once it did finally landed safely, she said.
"It was just a great landing."
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise chief economist Gareth Chaplin was another of the business passengers diverted through Nelson. He was quite relaxed about what had happened and full of praise for the crew. They kept passengers fully informed throughout the ordeal, he said. "The young lady in the cabin was brilliant." And the pilot "brought it down beautifully", he said.
Jason Pau and Te Atarau Hibbs, of Wellington, said the landing was a bit of an anti-climax. "It was smoother than most of the ones I've had on three wheels," Mr Pau said. Ms Hibbs said she was surprised at how damaged the plane was.
"The nose was completely munted."
Air Nelson, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, has not responded to calls from the Nelson Mail regarding the incident. Air New Zealand issued a statement saying the engineer's initial inspection suggests the incident was unrelated to the Q300 nose wheel failure in September last year.
A second emergency landing of a Bombardier Q300 plane in Blenheim has so far failed to spark any widespread concerns about continued use of the aircraft, used extensively by Air Nelson.
The 41 passengers onboard the Air Nelson flight from Hamilton to Wellington all went into the brace position as the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Blenheim Airport after it's front landing gear failed yesterday afternoon.
Some were bused to Nelson Airport last night where they reboarded alternative flights. Elderly passengers Adair, Neil and Finlay Bruce had been on their way to see family in Dunedin. They were still quite shaken by the ordeal when they spoke with the Nelson Mail.
"We were all thinking that was the end, or I was," Mrs Bruce said, tears welling in her eyes.
Michelle Te Wharau, a Hamilton-based road safety engineer who was heading to Wellington for work, said the plane started circling when they arrived in Wellington and this was when the pilot identified there was a problem with the front landing gear. He tried to rectify it and couldn't.
The crew kept calm throughout, keeping passengers informed, giving pillows and blankets to young children onboard and moving some people to the back of the plane, she said. "At no time did you feel them panicking."
Passengers were directed through the emergency procedures, putting their heads down in the brace position as the plane came in to land in Blenheim. It was during this time that some of the children started to cry and there were a few teary eyes amongst some other passengers once it did finally landed safely, she said.
"It was just a great landing."
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise chief economist Gareth Chaplin was another of the business passengers diverted through Nelson. He was quite relaxed about what had happened and full of praise for the crew. They kept passengers fully informed throughout the ordeal, he said. "The young lady in the cabin was brilliant." And the pilot "brought it down beautifully", he said.
Jason Pau and Te Atarau Hibbs, of Wellington, said the landing was a bit of an anti-climax. "It was smoother than most of the ones I've had on three wheels," Mr Pau said. Ms Hibbs said she was surprised at how damaged the plane was.
"The nose was completely munted."
Air Nelson, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, has not responded to calls from the Nelson Mail regarding the incident. Air New Zealand issued a statement saying the engineer's initial inspection suggests the incident was unrelated to the Q300 nose wheel failure in September last year.
source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/
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