Air New Zealand customers on a Boeing 737 were evacuated from their aircraft at Auckland domestic airport this morning.
Flight NZ503 bound for Christchurch had returned to Auckland and landed safely after an electrical fault was reported in the flight deck.
While taxiing to the airport gate, a smell of fumes were reported in the flight deck and in line with standard operating procedure, the Captain decided to evacuate the aircraft. This saw the 94 passengers and three cabin crew and two pilots exit the aircraft down emergency shutes. They were immediately met by Air New Zealand staff and offered support.
Air New Zealand is now assisting customers to make alternative travel arrangements.
A further update will follow around midday.
Ends
Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs Ph: 09 336 2761
NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,500 daily flights to 1,071 airports in 171 countries.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.
