Wellington: A passenger plane landed safely at a New Zealand airport on Monday after a fire shut down one of its engines, the nation’s fire service said. The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet, bound for Melbourne, Australia, with 67 passengers and six crew members on board, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion.
Flames were seen shortly after the plane took off from Queenstown Airport. The incident may have resulted from “a possible bird strike,” the airline’s chief operations officer, Stuart Aggs, said in an emailed statement. Fire trucks met the plane as it arrived in Invercargill about 50 minutes after takeoff from Queenstown, said Lynn Crosson, shift supervisor for Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
“At this time, no physical injuries to guests or crew have been reported. Passengers will be accommodated in Invercargill overnight, and new flights will be arranged,” Aggs said.
Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is a popular tourist destination on New Zealand’s South Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism, and alpine vistas.
The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand’s airports is about four in every 10,000 aircraft movements, according to the country’s aviation regulator. The consequences of such strikes vary in severity depending on where the aircraft is hit, the size of the birds, and the pilot’s reaction, the Civil Aviation Authority says.
Catherine Nind, a spokesperson for Queenstown Airport, said no further information about the incident was immediately available.
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