'It was very exaggerated': Air NZ flight aborts Queenstown landing
An Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Queenstown was forced to abandon its landing before diverting, as wild weather battered the Otago region.
Flight NZ637 attempted to land at Queenstown Airport on Friday afternoon but carried out a go-around amid strong winds.
Jono, a Queenstown local, was walking with his wife to pick up their children from school when the pair noticed the aircraft struggling to approach in windy conditions.
“Typically, when there’s a bit of wind, you can hear the plane engines sort of throttle up and throttle down as they try and keep things steady.
“So we kind of looked over and we could just see it rolling from like one wing over to the other, but like quite quickly.”
He said the plane’s movements were unlike anything he had witnessed before.
“It was very exaggerated. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plane sort of snapping that far over to the left and right before.”
Jono estimated the aircraft continued its unstable approach for 15 to 20 seconds before the pilots abandoned the landing.
“We were wondering why they didn’t really bail out because they were flipping left and right,” he said.
Having lived in Queenstown for four years, Jono said it was the worst approach he had seen.
“There’s been some real rough weather that they’ve sort of flown in, but that was certainly the worst we’ve seen, or certainly the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been here.
“It just seemed like they were fighting with how much the plane was rolling that they couldn’t actually start gaining altitude and bail out of it.”
He said the rapid rolling motions had been comparable to the way people mimic turbulence with hand gestures.
“We thought we were actually going to see something far worse.”
Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said the flight had experienced turbulence owing to strong crosswinds and windshear.
Unable to safely land, the Airbus A320 diverted to Christchurch to refuel before returning to Auckland.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our utmost priority,” McGraw said.
“Our aircraft are carefully designed to operate safely in turbulence, and our pilots are highly trained to manage these conditions.”
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