At least one domestic flight was held up by the emergency with the passenger craft circling offshore waiting to land.
An Air New Zealand spokesperson said a passenger plane travelling from Auckland was in a holding pattern while emergency services attended the incident.
A Tauranga Airport spokesperson told the Herald the plane involved was a Cessna 172 from Hawke’s Bay.
They confirmed the pilot was the only person on board and it was owned by someone from outside of the Bay of Plenty.
When asked why the plane was circling Motti Island, the spokesperson said, “With any incident, the airfield traffic is minimised and or put into holding while the incident is managed and cleared at the airfield”.
“The aircraft involved alerted ATC on route as per standard procedures, emergency services were on route but were quickly stood down as Airport Rescue Fire managed the incident.”
The runway was closed for 15 minutes, and the plane eventually landed successfully.
“The plane is currently still at the airport. Engineers have assessed it and it will be flown back to Hawkes Bay tomorrow.”
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