Fri, May 04, 2007
Cabin Smoke, Landing Gear Problems Force Diversion
An
Air New Zealand 737 carrying 120 passengers from Wellington to
Auckland was forced to divert to Ohakea for an emergency landing
Wednesday, when smoke was discovered in the cockpit.
The flight was about 65 miles north of Ohakea air base about
9:30 pm local time, enroute to Auckland when the pilot reported
electrical problems, smelled smoke and decided to make the
emergency landing in Ohakea.
During the landing attempt, passengers told the New Zealand
Herald the aircraft suddenly pulled up again. The pilot reportedly
said warning lights indicated the landing gear wasn't down. The
aircraft landed on the second attempt and passengers were evacuated
without incident.
Air New Zealand spokesman David Jamieson said the pilot didn't
land on the first approach because he was carrying out a series of
checks to make sure the landing gear was, indeed, down.
"There was a certain smell of smoke in the air and we were under
no doubt that this was the real thing," said passenger David
Cunliffe.
Wayne Mapp said he did not see any smoke, but "when you start
smelling smoke you realize there's something amiss."
Passenger Simon Lambourne said the aircraft accelerated out of
the approach on the first landing attempt and the pilot announced
they had been told the wheels were not down.
"It's not the best thing to have the pilot of the plane tell you
there's electrical problems and then when you're coming down to
land to be told there's a problem with the wheels... it was a bit
nerve-racking for a while but we got there in the end," he
said.
A licensed pilot himself, Mapp added, "Everybody was very calm
and relaxed and everything was done very professionally."
More News
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]