Lorna Thornber
Inside the business class of an Air NZ Dreamliner.
An Air New Zealand Boeing Dreamliner en route to Canada had to turn back mid-flight on Saturday due to a mechanical fault, just hours after the national carrier was named the safest in the world.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Flight NZ24 Auckland to Vancouver, took off at 8.30pm on January 6, but needed to turn back to Auckland 90 minutes into the flight.
An issue with one of the aircraft’s spoilers had been identified during the flight, said captain David Morgan, chief operational integrity and safety officer for Air New Zealand.
Spoilers are surfaces on the top of a wing which can be extended upward into the airflow. They are used to reduce lift in an aircraft and are used during landing.
The plane had to return to Auckland Airport to have the problem resolved before it could take off again.
“The aircraft returned to Auckland and our maintenance teams inspected and rectified the issue allowing the aircraft to re-depart,” said Morgan.
The flight is now due to land in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, January 7 (NZ time), he said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a different aircraft to the Boeing 737 Max, which has been grounded in the US after an incident in Oregon. Air NZ does not have the Boeing 737 Max in its fleet, a spokesperson told Stuff on Sunday.
Chris McKeen/Stuff
Juliette Sivertsen, Tyson Beckett and Hayden Tan review the new line up of snacks that Air NZ are going to be offering in the coming year.
The mechanical fault on board Flight NZ24 came just a few hours after Air New Zealand was named the safest airline in the world for 2024.
The airline was awarded the title by Airline Ratings, a travel information website, taking the top spot from Qantas by “the narrowest of margins”.
Factors considered when awarding the title are any serious incidents, fatal accidents, reports by governing bodies, profitability, safety initiatives, pilot training and fleet age.
Launched in October 2011, the Dreamliner is one of the most popular wide-body jet airliners flying and Air New Zealand has a fleet of 14.
Between 2017 and 2020 Air New Zealand Dreamliners had to be sent away to be serviced due to problems with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to the aircraft.
During that period, Air New Zealand had to ground as many as five 787-9 Dreamliners.