Powder that grounded plane 'not suspicious'

A powder scare which grounded an Air New Zealand flight at Whakatane Airport is over and emergency services have been sent home.

A bag containing white powder was found on a luggage trolley and some of the powder was spilt as it was loaded onto an Eagle Air flight bound for Auckland.

Police, fire and ambulance emergency workers were sent to the airport but police said the powder was not suspicious and the emergency services were stood down.

Inspector Matt Sillars from the police northern communications centre in Auckland said the parcel was not suspicious.

"We took the usual precautions to try and identify what it was. There was no threat."

The flight was delayed for several hours.

The Fire Service sent appliances from Whakatane, Rotorua and Kawarau and firefighters donned hazardous material suits while they inspected the powder.

The Fire Service said it was not determined what the powder was.

St John operations manager Brent Neilson earlier said an ambulance was on stand-by with a rapid response manager.

Mr Neilsen said 36 passengers were involved in the incident but no one had been transported to hospital.

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF and NEWSTALK ZB