#WeirdNews: After 16 hours, Air New Zealand flight reaches nowhere
What's the story
From Auckland to Auckland! If traveling in a plane and spending hours staying glued to your seat annoys you, consider yourself lucky that you weren't aboard Air New Zealand flight NZ2 yesterday. Well, the flight that was bound for New York City from Auckland, landed back at the origin-destination after spending 16 hours in the air! Tell us something weirder?
Schedule
Flight NZ2 had to reach NYC at 5:40 pm
Air New Zealand flight NZ2 was scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City at 5:40 pm local time. The plane had to touch down at the airport's Terminal 1 after taking off from Aukland Airport, New Zealand. The Boeing 787 plane had both passengers destined to reach New York and the ones having connecting flights.
Route
It made a U-turn halfway after covering 14,000 km
The flight made an unexpected U-turn mid-air after covering 14,000 km. The reason? A power outage at JFK Airport disrupted the operations at the terminal! "Due to an electrical fire in Terminal 1 at JFK Airport and the terminal's subsequent closure, NZ2 Auckland to New York was forced to divert back to Auckland," Air New Zealand said in a statement.
Twitter Post
Check out the tweet tracking the unfortunate flight
Here it comes. The 16 hour flight from 🛫 Auckland, to... 🛬 Auckland 😨😨
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 16, 2023
The flight made a U-turn because of the closure of Terminal 1 at JFK.https://t.co/ZpFoXsvmtU#NZ2 pic.twitter.com/w0BJh7G7f6
Reason
Why didn't the flight instead land at another US airport?
If you have been thinking that why the NZ2 flight from Auckland to New York wasn't asked to land at another US airport, you aren't alone! "Diverting to another US port would have meant the aircraft would remain on the ground for several days, impacting a number of other scheduled services and customers," clarified Air New Zealand. Well, now you know.
Rebooking
Passengers were rebooked on another flight
The passengers on the Air New Zealand flight that took off on Thursday from Auckland and landed back there today (stop laughing!) were rebooked on another flight. The new flight arranged for them is scheduled to leave Friday night-Saturday early hours. "We are working to accommodate impacted flights using other terminals. Travelers, please check flight status with your airline," said the aircraft company.
Other airplanes
Flights from Seoul, Rome, and Milan also faced the same
Due to the sudden fire and terminal closure at JKF Airport, about 135 flights to and from the city were affected. This also includes multiple aircraft coming in from Seoul, Rome, and Milan, which were forced to return to their original base. Air Korea made a return after spending 13.5 hours in the air! Several other flights were diverted to nearby US airports.
Past incidents
The incident comes after the Dubai-Auckland Emirates flight turned back
A similar incident happened on January 27 with an Emirates flight from Dubai to Aukland. Flight EK448 was asked to return owing to bad weather conditions at the arrival destination. The plane spent 13.5 hours in the air to only take a U-turn. A day before this, an American flight to Auckland had to return after being in the air for nearly 10 hours.