Emergency services were called to two separate aviation incidents in quick succession on Friday morning – one involving a small plane in Whangārei and the other an Air Force helicopter making an emergency landing at a Manawatū air base.
Indications of an engine fire were reported aboard an RNZAF A109 helicopter at 10.26am, a New Zealand Defence Force spokesperson said.
“The crew declared an emergency and a full response was activated by Base Ohakea and local Fire and Emergency NZ.”
The aircraft landed at 10.28am and the crew was evacuated.
The spokesperson said there was no external evidence of fire and that the aircraft was now being checked.
Second incident in Northland
Just minutes later, around 10.30am, a small plane crashed while landing at Whangārei Airport.
Police and St John were notified of the crash, but there were no reports of injury and emergency services were stood down.
Whangārei Airport said a “swift on-site assessment” had confirmed neither the aircraft or its occupants were at risk.
“All passengers were unharmed, and no damage to airport infrastructure was reported.”
Yesterday, a Fiji Airways flight sparked an emergency callout and landed after circling in the air for two hours above Canterbury.
The airline confirmed the Nadi-bound plane hit a bird during take-off around 2pm and had to return to Christchurch Airport.
Passengers departed for Fiji this morning, the airline confirmed.
“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.
“Our engineers are on the ground in Christchurch carrying out a thorough inspection and necessary maintenance on the aircraft that encountered a bird strike shortly after take-off yesterday.”
