The Air New Zealand plane, flying from Christchurch to Dunedin, returned to the ground soon after taking off about 2pm on Monday after a smoke indicator light illuminated about 15 minutes after take off.
Well-known Christchurch garden enthusiast Robyn Kilty was one of the 65 passengers on board, and felt Air New Zealand minimised what was a really scary incident.
The passengers were not told anything when the plane turned back to Christchurch and it seemed to be very panicky towards the end, she said.
Air New Zealand spokeswoman Lauren Bowerman said the pilots could not say anything as they had to put oxygen masks on when the light illuminated, but reports of there being smoke in the cockpit were incorrect. Rather a faulty smoke detector was to blame.
About 10 minutes before the plane landed, passengers were told the plane had turned back to Christchurch and they should prepare for an emergency landing, she said.
Staff told us to look at the card and the brace position, which I think everybody did, and people braced, Kilty said.
The plane seemed to come down very steeply. It landed with a few bumps and shaking, but then it sort of settled on to the runway.
The passengers clapped, thinking the incident was over.
We sat there for about five minutes and then all of a sudden, over the loudspeaker came an urgent message: evacuate, evacuate, evacuate, Kilty said.
They said leave your belongings behind … it was a bit of a panic. They opened emergency exits, you had to scramble out.
"I clambered out and jumped out into the arms of people hi-vis people who were there to help.
Bowerman said after landing, the pilots stopped on the runway to assess the situation, then taxied towards the gate.
When the aircraft was parked by the gate, cabin crew told the captain there might be smoke in the toilet and passengers had to evacuate immediately.
Most passengers evacuated through the emergency stairs at the back of the aircraft, but some got out through an emergency exit window at the front.
Ground staff helped passengers down to the tarmac, she said.
Passengers got their belongings back after they were checked by Fire and Emergency New Zealand staff.
Engineers inspected the aircraft and found a faulty smoke detector caused the problem, she said.
The plane returned to the skies on Tuesday morning.
As well, a passenger flight heading to Wellington was forced to return to Christchurch due to an engineering problem.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said flight NZ5346 from Christchurch to Wellington had to return to Christchurch on Wednesday morning.
Pilots decided to go back as a precaution because of a potential engineering issue.
She said the aircraft landed without incident about 10.40am.
Customers will be accommodated on alternative services and the aircraft will be inspected by engineers, she said.
Tourism Observer
