Air New Zealand - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

As of June 2010, Air New Zealand and its subsidiaries have been involved in over ten incidents and accidents, including 5 hull loss accidents.

• On 4 July 1966, an Air New Zealand Douglas DC-8 on a training flight crashed on the runway shortly after taking off, killing two of the five crew (no passengers were on board).

• On 22 December 1978 a small plane became lost over the Pacific and Air New Zealand Flight 103 had to search for it and successfully found it using a technical navigation method, with the help of an oil rig under tow. The captain then released a thin stream of fuel out of the DC10's fuel dump tube creating a ten-mile long vapour trail for the small plane to follow in the direction of Norfolk Island.

• On 17 February 1979, an Air New Zealand Fokker Friendship crashed into Manukau Harbour while on final approach. One of the crew and one company staff member were killed.

• On 28 November 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30-operated sightseeing flight over Antarctica, collided with Mount Erebus on Ross Island, killing all 257 people on board. An unannounced change in flight path coordinates by the airline's navigational division the morning of the accident, combined with unique Antarctic weather and conditions, resulted in the aircraft crashing into Mount Erebus when the flight crew thought they were flying down McMurdo Sound. The crash and subsequent inquiry resulted in major changes in Air New Zealand's management.

• On 19 May 1987, during the first of Fiji's coups d'état that year, Air New Zealand Flight 24, a Boeing 747-200-operated flight from Tokyo Narita to Auckland via Nadi, was hijacked at Nadi International Airport. Staff members of the local ground handling crew stormed the plane, and held three flight crew hostage for six hours before the incident was resolved. Air New Zealand subsequently suspended all of its services to/through Nadi for seven months.

• On 29 March 1995, NZ2337 from Hamilton to New Plymouth operated by a Kiwi West Aviation Beech Queen Air B80 Excalibur for Air New Zealand crashed 13 minutes after take-off killing all six on board. The plane stalled and spun after both engines failed due to fuel starvation.

• On 30 August 2002, Air New Zealand Flight 2, a Boeing 747-400-operated flight from Auckland to London Heathrow via Los Angeles, lost a two-metre section of its right inboard trailing-edge flap just after take-off. Dismissing the bumps as wake turbulence, the crew only realised the flap was missing 12 hours later on the approach to Los Angeles. The aircraft landed safely with no injuries. The separation was caused by a fatigue fracture of one of the links attaching the flap to the wing.

• On 18 June 2007, Air New Zealand/Eagle Airways Flight 2300, a Beechcraft 1900D-operated flight from Timaru to Wellington, was diverted to Woodbourne Aerodrome near Blenheim after the landing gear failed to deploy on the approach to Wellington. The aircraft landed on its belly, causing extensive but repairable damage to the aircraft. None of the 17 people on board were injured. The cause was the hydraulic system being drained via a fatigue crack in the hydraulic actuator for the right main landing gear, resulting in the gear being stuck in the retracted position.

• On 8 February 2008, a woman attempted to hijack Air New Zealand Flight 2279 from Blenheim to Christchurch. This was actually an Air National J32 on charter to replace the normal Eagle aircraft. The woman threatened Air New Zealand staff, stating she had a bomb on board. Both pilots and one passenger suffered stab injuries. The aircraft landed safely and the woman was arrested. There were no injuries to the other passengers on board.