Air New Zealand rescheduled a 777 aircraft yesterday afternoon to fly 303 people to San Francisco after a flight was forced to return to Auckland with engine trouble.
Airline spokesman David Jamieson said flight NZ8 was turned around about 4½ hours after leaving Auckland last night when the pilot detected an engine vibration.
Mr Jamieson said while the problem was not considered serious it was an issue that needed to be investigated by heavy maintenance crews in Auckland, as opposed to line contractors in the United States.
The aircraft did not arrive back in Auckland until the early hours of this morning and passengers were put up in a hotel.
“Unfortunately that’s part of the day-to-day grind of running an airline and it’s a real hassle for the customers,” Mr Jamieson said.
He said the rescheduled flight was due to depart at 2.30pm.
Report by The Mole
