By Liz Puranam
A second Air New Zealand plane was forced to make an emergency landing this evening after a faulty warning light incorrectly showed smoke was detected in the planes hold.
The plane landed safely at Dunedin Airport just before 9pm this evening with 40 passengers on board.
It comes just hours after a much larger plane bound for Perth was forced to return to Auckland Airport this afternoon after problems with one of its engines.
Passengers reported hearing loud bands and seeing flames on the flight bound to Perth.
There were more than 200 passengers on board Air New Zealand flight 175. It had just got into the air when one of its engines suddenly blew.
“I looked out the window and there were flames coming out the back. And there were two loud bangs and then an announcement came on pretty soon after saying it was the compressors,” says passenger Moira Manning.
Air New Zealand issued a statement saying the flight from Auckland to Perth returned to Auckland after the pilot of the Boeing 767 reported a problem with the left hand engine shortly after take off. It landed without further incident and taxied to the gate.
“It was scary but everyone's in the same boat,” says Mrs Manning.
Air New Zealand say they don't know what caused the problem and engineers have been inspecting the engine.
The passengers will return to the airport for a one am flight to Perth.
The emergency at the airport came as police communication centres around the country had problems for the second time in six weeks.
A problem with a contractor meant the centres had difficulty passing on messages to fire and police stations, and some computers, phones and radios stopped working. Police say no incidents were missed, but they are investigating why there was a second problem in such a short space of time.
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