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Contact photographer George Canciani
What: Air New Zealand Boeing 737-300 en route from Auckland to Wellington
Where: Hamilton
When: May 8, 2011
Who: 101 aboard
Why: While en route, the pilots shut down the right engine. Low oil pressure is suspected to be the problem.
Passengers heard the right engine make an explosive noise. In the plane, passengers panicked as they dropped for several seconds—screaming, crying, praying, panic attacks.
The plane rolled right, then straightened.
After a few moments, the pilot came out and reassured the passengers, explaining that they’d lost an engine, but it was a routine procedure they practiced all the time and that everything was under control.
Pilots diverted to Hamilton, where they made a safe landing. As passengers exited, the pilot told them “this was the first time an Air New Zealand 737 had had a total loss of engine.”
Passengers were bused or rented cars to go back to Auckland and engineers examined the downed plane.
Delta Airlines flight DL-174 diverted to Boston, Massachusetts, on June 22nd.
An IndiGo flight had to divert and make a precautionary landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, India, on July 28th.
Qantas Airways flight QF-495 made an emergency landing in Melbourne, Australia, on April 7th.