Air New Zealand is continuing to investigate yesterday’s incident involving a Boeing 767-300 aircraft operating as NZ175 from Auckland to Perth.
Early reports show no evidence of a bird strike causing problems with one of the aircraft’s engines.
In a statement, Air NZ said the pilots reduced take-off thrust as normal when they were airborne, “but at this time there was an interruption to the airflow through the left hand engine which caused the flare seen from the rear of the engineâ€.
Although the engine returned to normal, Air NZ said the pilots undertook a precautionary engine shut down before returning to the airport so the cause of the airflow disruption could be determined.
“The change in the airflow in the engine created a similar reaction to that of a car backfiring,†said Air New Zealand general manager airline operations and chief pilot, David Morgan.
“The investigation has established no evidence of bird strike as a cause for the disruption to airflow and no damage to the engine itself.â€
Passengers from the flight were accommodated in hotels overnight before flying on another aircraft to Perth.
