Cabin water scares air passengers

An 80-year-old man and his family on a flight to Auckland got the fright of their lives when about “half a bottle” of water poured on to his head from the aircraft cabin’s ceiling.

David Shen was travelling with his parents on the Air New Zealand flight from Shanghai to Auckland when he noticed the dripping water about an hour before landing.

“I’m just sitting down, nearby my daddy, water came from the top of airplane,” he said. “Not just one or two drops, but half a bottle.”

It turned out to be condensation from the air conditioning but Shen had feared something more sinister.

“At first we thought it was a plane accident, very nervous.

“We were told later it was water, but not drinking water. It is disgusting. We felt very sick.”

Shen tried to dry his father’s back and alerted the flight attendants.

“They checked the seat, checked everything and they said it came from the air-conditioning.”

Shen, who lives in Auckland with his wife and three children, said his father was given a blanket to stay dry.

Shen later asked Air NZ to upgrade his father to business class on his return trip to Shanghai this month.

The airline told him an upgrade was “not something that we would consider” but offered him compensation for dry-cleaning costs and gave his father lounge access for his return journey.

An Air NZ spokeswoman said all passenger aircraft could be affected “from time to time” by the formation of condensation inside the cabin.

Shen wanted Air NZ to investigate the issue of condensation further.