Emergency services were scrambled to a "full emergency" at Whenuapai Airport tonight.
The incident was understood to involve a Defence Force P3 Orion maritime surveillance plane.
A Defence Force spokesman said the incident involved an aircraft on the ground.
There were no injuries or any risk to life and the incident was now resolved.
It was understood the incident was prompted by the smell of electrical burning.
"The aircraft was on the ground when the incident occurred. There's been no injuries, no one's at risk and the incident is basically over now," the Defence Force spokesman said.
"There will be an investigation into what's actually occurred."
The spokesman said the incident was "not a huge thing - it's more of a precautionary thing than anything else".
The investigation could take some time, he said.