Air Force Orion in trouble at Whenuapai

The Air Force says an Orion had an engine fire indication while taxiing at the base. Photo / File

Emergency services have rushed to Whenuapai airbase in Auckland after trouble with an Air Force Orion.

The Air Force says an Orion had an engine fire indication while taxiing at the base.

It says crew conducted a precautionary shutdown and evacuated the aircraft.

The cause is being investigated.

The Fire Service attended.

An Orion had engine fire indication while taxiing at Base Akld. Crew conducted precautionary shutdown & evacuated. Cause to be investigated.

— Royal NZ Air Force (@NZAirForce) May 15, 2017

This is not the first time a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion has run into problems.

On December 9 last year emergency services were scrambled to a "full emergency" at Whenuapai Airport.

A Defence Force spokesman at the time said the incident involved an aircraft on the ground. It was understood the alarm 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.​

In September last year, emergency services were called to Whenuapai Air Force base after the crew on a P3K2 Orion noticed an electrical fault while taxiing.

Also last year, a C-130 Hercules with 30 passengers made an emergency landing at Whenuapai after its engine overheated mid-flight.

Three days earlier, one of the Boeing 757s had to make an emergency landing at the same airport because of a punctured tyre that caused vibrations during its take-off.

And on June 29, the crew on a Hercules declared an emergency after reporting pressurisation issues, which forced them to land the plane.