Photo: Flightradar24
Air New Zealand says an item inside a passenger's carry-on luggage is to blame for a flight grounded in New Plymouth on Tuesday evening.
The Blenheim to Auckland flight was diverted to New Plymouth, with a passenger telling RNZ they could smell fuel coming through the air vents inside.
Cally McKenzie was on the flight, and said passengers were told to quickly disembark into the terminal.
"I thought it was just going to be, they would clear us and we would take off," she said. "But, with not knowing what the source of smell was, they grounded the [airplane] and cancelled the flight."
Initially, she believed the smell was due to a passenger turning on an air vent and releasing the smell of aviation fuel. Several passengers in front of her were complaining about the odour.
Passengers were still having their snacks when she noticed the plane was descending, she said.
"We were told when we landed by the stewardess and then by the pilot that because there was a fuel smell through the air vents, that they had to take precautions and the plane was landing so it could be checked."
She said police spoke to some of the passengers after they had disembarked in New Plymouth.
Air New Zealand said the smell was revealed to be coming from an item of machinery with residual fuel that was part of a passenger's carry-on luggage.
Getting home
McKenzie said a few passengers were put on the last flight up to Auckland this on Tuesday evening, while the rest would fly out on Wednesday morning.
Eric, another passenger, was said it was the smell of fuel that grounded them and the diversion made him miss his flight home to Hawaii.
"They're going to put us up, and they're putting us on a flight tomorrow, but we've missed our flight that only goes three times a week, so we're f*****."
Eric said his next flight home was now on Thursday.
Another passenger who did not wish to be named said she wasn't told the source of the smell, even after she left the plane.
Despite that, the passenger said she wasn't nervous while they were still in the air.
"What can you do when you're up there? Come on, if something happens you're done," she said.
Air New Zealand head of flight operations Hugh Pearce said they were working to get passengers to their destination.
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