The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet bound for Melbourne, Australia, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion
Fire trucks met the plane as it arrived in Invercargill about 50 minutes after takeoff from Queenstown, said Lynn Crosson, shift supervisor for Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
The cause of the engine fire and the number of passengers on board the plane were not immediately known, Queenstown Airport spokesperson Catherine Nind said.
Virgin Australia said in an emailed statement that the incident may have involved “a possible bird strike.”
Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is popular tourist destination on New Zealand’s South Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism and alpine vistas.
The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand’s airports 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 agency says.says.
Virgin Australia chief operations officer, Stuart Aggs, said in an emailed statement the incident may have resulted from "a possible bird strike".
Flames were seen shortly after the plane took off from Queenstown Airport at 5.50pm local time.
No further information about what happened at the time of the incident was known, said Catherine Nind, an airport spokesperson.
"At this time, we are not aware of any physical injuries to guests or crew," Mr Aggs said.
Passengers will be accommodated in Invercargill overnight and new flights will be arranged, he said.
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Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is a popular tourist destination on New Zealand's South Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism and alpine vistas.
The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand's airports 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.
It comes after New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was forced to take a commercial flight to Japan on Sunday when a defence force plane broke down.
New Zealand media reported that the Boeing (BA.N) 757 broke down during a refuelling stop in Papua New Guinea, leaving the business delegation and journalists stranded in Port Moresby, while Mr Luxon flew commercial to Japan.
