An Air New Zealand flight bound for Brisbane was forced to abort take-off at Christchurch Airport on Monday morning due to a bird strike.
The plane was scheduled to depart shortly after 6am but came to an abrupt halt during its take-off roll.
Passengers were later informed that birds had struck both engines.
Passenger Aaron Taylor was aboard the flight.
“We had begun taking off travelling at high speed on the run away, about to take off the ground, when the brakes were slammed on.
”We hit the brakes harder than a normal landing. We knew something was wrong. It was a very weird feeling, everyone was scared and unsure what happened and if we were in immediate danger” he said
“The captain was amazing and informed us quite soon after coming to a stop that it was a bird strike and that we would have the fire cars arriving to assess the tires on the plane as they had potentially burnt during the emergency braking.
“I couldn’t fault the captain, he kept us very informed and updated us every couple of minutes. He even came through the cabin personally updating and checking on passengers.
“While this was inconvenient, I am so grateful for the captain making that split second decision to keep us all safe.
Air New Zealand were also great at rebooking flights and helping the best they could.”
Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer, Captain David Morgan told chrislynchmedia.com “earlier this morning, flight NZ207 from Christchurch to Brisbane experienced a suspected bird strike and aborted its take off.
“As is standard procedure when a bird strike is suspected, our engineering teams are required to complete a full aircraft inspection before the aircraft can return to service.
While frustrating, bird strikes are not uncommon. Aircraft are designed with this in mind, and our pilots are fully trained for a bird strike scenario” Morgan said.
“As a consequence, NZ207 from Christchurch to Brisbane and NZ272 from Brisbane to Wellington have been cancelled, with most customers expected to travel today on alternative services. We thank customers for their patience and understanding.”
