PLANE LANDS AT INVERCARGILL AFTER EMERGENCY SERVICES PUT ON STAND-BY

A plane has landed in Invercargill after emergency services were put on stand-by this afternoon.

Air New Zealand Flight NZ5409 was heading from Christchurch to Invercargill Airport on Saturday when a landing gear fault was detected.

A flight tracker showed it flew multiple loops offshore and passed over the runway before it could land safely.

Fire and Emergency NZ told Newshub they were first alerted at 1:58pm, and crews from Invercargill, Kingswell and Wallacetown were in attendance, along with one tanker.

In a statement to Newshub, Air New Zealand head of flight operations, Hugh Pearce, provided an update.

"The pilot made the decision to delay the landing to complete the necessary checks before carrying out a safe landing at Invercargill," he said.

"The pilot notified air traffic control in accordance with standard operating procedures which resulted in a local standby at the airport.

"We thank customers for their patience and understanding."

2024-06-29T02:40:55Z dg43tfdfdgfd