Wellington International Airport - Incidents

Incidents

In spite of the short runway and frequent winds, there have been very few safety incidents at the airport. However, at the air show held on opening day in 1959 there were two significant incidents. A Royal New Zealand Air Force Sunderland flying boat scraped its keel along the runway during a low pass in turbulent conditions; it returned to its base at Hobsonville and was beached for repair. A Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber aborted its landing when it touched down short of the runway, rupturing its left main landing gear drag link, the wing attachments and engine fuel lines; the aircraft flew to Ohakea air base where it was stranded for several months being repaired.

• On 17 February 1963, Vickers 807 Viscount, ZK-BWO, "City of Dunedin" of the National Airways Corporation overran the southern end of the runway ending up damaged down an embankment on the adjacent public road.

• In 1991 a United Airlines Boeing 747 made an emergency landing after its intended destination, Auckland Airport, was closed by fog, it was estimated that the plane had it continued to its planned alternate, Christchuch, would have had an unacceptable 15 minutes of fuel onboard..

• On 21 November 2007, a Cessna 172 owned by Wings over Whales, departing to Kaikoura on a whale-watching trip, flipped onto its roof as it was taxiing onto the runway in strong northerly winds. Two people were on board and escaped with only minor injuries. The airport was closed for approximately two hours.

• On 17 June 2008, a Pacific Blue 737–800 was moved sideways away from an airbridge after a strong gust of wind caught the tail section. Although passengers were disembarking at the time and ground crew were working under the aircraft, no-one was injured.