“There were no injuries sustained by either our customers or our crew.”
Groundspeed-Altitude data for the flight shows a drastic drop in flight speed around 15 minutes into the flight.
Passengers aboard NZ223 described a sensation of losing height rapidly for around two seconds.
Passengers flying out of Christchurch last night report being warned by flight crew that services would be particularly turbulent due to strong winds. One passenger described this moment of stomach-churning turbulence, telling Stuff that “a number of passengers screamed” as the plane hit violent turbulence.
Auckland to Christchurch services were also affected by the rough weather, buffeting the commuter route.
The South Island has experienced strong winds from across the country.
El Nino only part of the pattern: Strong winds and spring flights
The uncomfortable flying comes as MetService issues red weather warnings for Thursday and Friday, regarding strong winds.
The El Nino weather pattern is bringing windy westerlies and a particularly blustery couple of days for New Zealand’s South Island.
Earlier this week WeatherWatch’s Philip Duncan told the Herald that Kiwis could expect severe gale northwesterlies into the weekend.
“The pattern we’ll be seeing will be kind of off-and-on for the next couple of weeks, with a surge at the end of this week, followed by a bigger one around Sunday,” he said
MetService issued severe weather warnings and watches for Thursday and Friday, with a moderate risk of severe gale northwesterlies about Marlborough, Wellington, Wairarapa, Tararua and Central Hawke’s Bay on Friday morning.
“El Niño is only part of the story,” MetService spokeswoman, Thapi Makgabutlane told the Herald, but it was adding to discomfort of air passengers.
“The types of strong westerly to northwesterly wind flow patterns we’re seeing at the moment are good producers of these types of turbulent conditions for the South Island, and these wind patterns are more likely during an El Niño spring and summer.”
The strong westerly and northwesterly winds were hitting the Divide of the Souththern Alps / Tiritiri o te Moana and creating strong upwards flow, affecting atmospheric stability.
Air New Zealand pilots prepped for turbulence
Captain Hugh Pearce, Air New Zealand Head of Flight Operations said that the strong northwesterlies meant that there was some turbulence being experienced across the motu.
“Everyone is getting a bit of a bump at the moment,” he said, but particularly on trans-Tasman flights from Christchurch and Dunedin.
The strong winds were raised at the pilots’ morning operational conferences and were expected to continue into Friday.
Pilots flying over the Southern Alps could expect some orographic turbulence and would be altering descent levels into Christchurch but it was “not practical” or reasonable to divert around the mountains.
“These modern planes are built for anything,” said Captain Pearce. “It’s not since the 1950s that flight planners had to worry about diverting for turbulence.”
He addressed passengers’ description of “falling” as a common feeling in planes experience turbulence, even if the plane remains relatively stable.
“Some people do report the sensation of falling, even if the recorded altitude or speed changes little,” said Pearce. “Jolts can give the sensation of low-G force, which your brain assumes must mean you are falling.”
