No plans to ground Dash 8 aircraft, says Air NZ

Air New Zealand has no plans to ground its fleet of Dash 8 aircraft after a nose wheel failure yesterday, the second in just over four months.
A Dash 8 Bombardier operated by Air NZ subsidiary Air Nelson made an emergency landing at landing Blenheim Airport when its nose wheel failed to engage.
The aircraft, with 46 passengers and three crew, landed on its main undercarriage and the pilot kept the nose up for some time before it thumped to the ground. The aircraft scraped along the runway until it stopped.
No one was hurt.
Last September the nose wheel of an Air New Zealand Dash 8 collapsed as it landed at Blenheim Airport, where it had been diverted from Nelson due to bad weather.
That aircraft also scraped along the runway on its nose before it stopped.
Air New Zealand said today there was no intention of grounding the 23-strong fleet, pending an investigation.
``Absolutely not, no. You can knock that one on the head,'' spokeswoman Andrea Dale told NZPA.
She said the two nose wheel incidents did not appear to be related.
Air New Zealand's fleet of the 50-seat Dash 8 aircraft has an average age of 3.8 years.
The Dash 8 yesterday was flying from Hamilton to Wellington when it encountered problems with its landing gear.
After circling the capital and trying to lower its nose wheel, the plane was diverted to Blenheim where emergency services were on standby.
The successful landing was applauded by the passengers who were offered accommodation or road transport to Nelson for another flight to Wellington.
Air New Zealand said last night the Dash 8 would be flown to Nelson for repair.
It was moved off the runway at Blenheim several hours after the incident.
A special flight permit would be sought from manufacturer Bombardier and the Civil Aviation Authority to fly it to Nelson with landing gear locked in place.