Australia-bound plane shoots fire from engine, lands in New Zealand Airport

A Virgin Australia Boeing 737 flying to Melbourne made a safe landing in Invercargill after flames were seen coming from one of its engines. The incident happened soon after takeoff from Queenstown Airport on Monday evening, as reported by New Zealand’s Newshub.

“Virgin Australia flight VA148 departed Queenstown Airport at 5.50pm, bound for Melbourne. It experienced an issue just after take-off and has been diverted to Invercargill Airport. We will provide further updates as information becomes available,” Queenstown airport authorities said in a post on X.

The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet bound for Melbourne, Australia, with 67 passengers and six crew members on board landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion. The incident may have resulted from “a possible bird strike,” the airline’s chief operations officer, Stuart Aggs, said in an emailed statement.

Flames were seen shortly after the plane took off from Queenstown Airport. No further information about what happened at the time of the incident was known, said Catherine Nind, an airport spokesperson.

— nzherald (@nzherald) June 17, 2024

Drawyah, a social media account specializing in streaming flight and railway simulations, reported separately that the atmosphere on board the flight was ‘calm’ and mentioned that fire crews conducted an inspection of the plane. “Can confirm it was a bird strike on the way out,” Drawyah said in its post.

👋 Greetings from Invercargill! Mood is calm in the cabin, a tad shaken but on the ground as fire crews inspect the plane. Can confirm it was a bird strike on the way out. pic.twitter.com/NBq7GnSR8a

— Drawyah (@DrawyahYT) June 17, 2024

A Queenstown resident shared the video of the pplane’sengine spewing fire with the New Zealand Herald. The short video shows the plane shooting out fire with loud bangs.

Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is popular tourist destination on New ZZealand’sSouth Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism and alpine vistas.

The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand’sairports is about four in every 10,000 aircraft movements, the country’s aviation regulator says on its website. The consequences vary in severity depending on where the aircraft is hit, the size of the birds and the pilot’s reaction , the Civil Aviation Authority says.

(With agency inputs)

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