Crews respond to airplane engine fire at Wellington Airport

An airplane has landed at Wellington Airport trailing smoke and fire after an engine fire, but all 40 passengers were safely evacuated.

Dramatic video posted on social media shows the plane arriving, with smoke billowing behind it.

Wow! Amazing video. Engine catches fire on Air New Zealand flight landing in Wellington. Streamed live on Wellington Flights Live! pic.twitter.com/0cV9VNQq5j

— Dan News (@dannews) September 1, 2024

"Just after 4pm this afternoon NZ5366 travelling from Christchurch to Wellington landed safely after smoke was seen coming from the engine," Air New Zealand Head of Flight Operations, Hugh Pearce said in a statement.

"The aircraft was met by emergency services and all passengers have disembarked safely.

"The cause of the incident is not yet known. We expect some disruptions to flights in Wellington as a result."

The Civil Aviation Authority said they were alerted at 4.10pm of the flight calling "mayday" due to an engine fire.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson confirmed to RNZ they were called to an engine fire shortly after 4pm on Sunday.

The FENZ spokesperson said the fire had been extinguished by the time emergency crews arrived at the scene.

The plane landed safely and 40 passengers disembarked.

Video showed them jumping from the emergency doors.

Multiple flights were diverted from landing in Wellington, the airport website showed.

The airport is not closed and the runway has reopened, an airport spokesperson confrimed, and flights will return to normal schedule soon.

Check the airport website for flight information.

Passengers jumping out of emergency doors - via Wellington Flights Live https://t.co/nskxSHXP9P pic.twitter.com/17iczoT78R

— Dan News (@dannews) September 1, 2024

Well that was an exciting landing #fire #WellingtonAirport #evacuation pic.twitter.com/aJHNZatCL6

— The Akinator (@dudezeon) September 1, 2024

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