Air NZ plane turns back after concerning find

An Air New Zealand flight bound for Shanghai was just 4.5 hours into its journey when crew made the decision to turn back to Auckland.

An Air New Zealand flight just four and half hours into its journey to Shanghai was forced to turn back after a “proactive safety measure”.

The decision was made to turn Flight NZ289 around on Monday as one of the aircraft engines was “using more oil than usual”.

An Air NZ flight was forced to turn back to Auckland just 4.5 hours into its journey to Shanghai. Picture: iStock

It is understood the team made the call to return to Auckland so the aircraft could be checked by the airline’s engineering team to expedite repair as they do not s not have the full engineering capabilities in Shanghai.

“The aircraft arrived in Auckland at 8.36am on July 2 and customers have been accommodated on the next available service,” Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marre told news.com.au.

One of the aircraft engines was ‘using more oil than usual’. Picture: Flightradar24

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while our teams worked through the rebooking process.”

Flightradar24 showed the flight turned above the Solomon Islands.

David Howell from Kaikoura was on the flight and told Stuff Travel passengers were baffled when they watched the plane fly in the wrong direction on the flight map, allegedly with no information from the flight crew.

He had he returned to his seat to his partner telling him the plane was going back Auckland.

“I thought she was joking but the flight path confirmed my disappointment,” he said.

It comes as two people were left injured on an Air New Zealand plane last month when it hit severe turbulence on a flight from Wellington to Queenstown.

According to the Daily Mail, a passenger reportedly suffered burns from a pot of hot coffee while a crew member was thrown from her feet about 15 minutes after take-off on June 16.