Passenger on dramatic Wellington flight describes moment plane hit runway

Melissa Nightingale of

By Melissa Nightingale of

A passenger on an Air New Zealand flight to Wellington that dramatically aborted its landing on Thursday said everyone on board seemed too shocked to scream.

Aakashni Prasad was heading home from Brisbane on flight NZ272 earlier this week, having visited Australia for a work conference.

"There were a few turbulences in the air, actually, prior to landing," said Prasad, noting they had received several updates through the flight warning them the weather in Wellington was poor.

"I had a feeling maybe something was going to happen."

Shortly before landing, the plane was put into a holding pattern as they waited for more favourable landing conditions in the capital, she said.

The plane then descended to attempt landing.

"There was a bit of a jolt so I held the seat in front of me. [The plane] hit the ground and within seconds it took off again. Everyone was totally shaken, but surprisingly there were no screams.

"I was shaken, like oh my God, what's going to happen now? Please no, is it all going to fall apart?"

She thought the other passengers were "just in too big of a shock and panic to actually scream or anything".

Throughout the flight Prasad messaged loved ones using the in-flight WiFi, including her husband who had arrived in Wellington half an hour before her on a Qantas flight.

She said she had a heavy pain in her chest for the rest of the flight after the plane diverted to Auckland, which she thought was to do with the "pressure". She felt better once she arrived in Auckland.

Many of the members of the flight were on the same plane together when they were sent back to Wellington later that evening.

"When we landed in Wellington there was a big applause and clapping," she said.

Prasad said she was a frequent flier, travelling every few weeks to Auckland, Fiji and Australia, but had never experienced anything like this before.

"I'm glad no fatalities happened or anything. The pilots were in control. The main thing is they got us safely to Auckland."

Footage of the flight shows the plane landing and suddenly pulling up with smoke billowing in the tail area of the plane.

But the airline said despite what some might consider contact with the tail on the runaway, that did not occur.

Air New Zealand head of flight operations Captain Hugh Pearce confirmed the flight from Brisbane to Wellington on Thursday afternoon experienced wind shear just before touchdown.

"When the wind shear occurred, the standard procedure of initiating a go-around was executed with the main wheels touching the runway in the process.

"Due to the weather conditions at Wellington, the pilots diverted to Auckland and made a safe landing," Pearce said.

An inspection of the aircraft confirmed there was no tail contact with the runway, the airline said.

"Aircraft data has also been sent to Airbus to analyse and advise if there is anything else our maintenance team needs to do before the aircraft can be returned to service," Pearce said.

Pearce said it was a rare situation but the crew was trained to respond to it.

Pearce confirmed all customers onboard were re-accommodated.

This story was originally published by the New Zealand Herald.