Plane lands safely at Palmerston North after announcing engine trouble

Emergency services are at Palmerston North Airport.

A plane has safely landed at Palmerston North Airport after announcing it was in trouble.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said Flight NZ8231 from Rotorua to Wellington was diverted to Palmerston North this morning after the pilot elected to shut down one of the engines as a precautionary measure due to an engineering issue.

The plane then landed safely and without incident around 9.20am .

"This in line with standard operating procedure and Q300 aircraft are designed and tested to land on one engine and our pilots train for this scenario," the spokeswoman said.

"The aircraft was met by emergency services as a precaution in line with normal procedures.

"Please note, this was not an emergency landing."

She said the customers on board Flight NZ8231 would be offered road transport to Wellington.

A police spokeswoman said it had been alerted to a plane having engine trouble and the usual emergency services responses were kicked into action.

A Fire and Emergency spokesman confirmed one of the plane's engines had shut down, followed by a safe landing.