Stranded & scared
Mum says upset children left sitting with no idea of what was happening
Three children were taken off an overloaded flight bound for Brisbane and left sitting in the air bridge without any idea of what was going on — or their parents being contacted first.
The children, aged 10, 14 and 15, were among a group of 11 passengers removed from an Air New Zealand flight on Saturday, just before takeoff.
Brisbane-based Atareta Wilson told the Herald the first she knew her upset children weren’t coming home was when her oldest rang her from the tarmac at Auckland Airport.
Her son told her there was no one to talk to her because they were “sitting in the tunnel” waiting to find out what was going to happen.
“I said to him ‘ as soon as you get someone who’s not too busy I need to talk to them straight away’.”
The group removed from the plane — including a 14-year-old girl who was also travelling by herself and a distressed elderly woman — were put into a room to wait. It was an hour before a stressed and angry Wilson could speak to someone.
That was a nurse doing Covid tests but she was only able to confirm what Wilson already knew from the children.
“I had three kids in New Zealand, I’m in Australia, there’s nothing I can do. They’re freaking out and everyone else there is freaking out.”
The nurse said she would help find someone to talk to. The arrival of several police officers put her kids on edge.
Wilson said her two boys were booked as adults, and although her 15-year-old looked older he was still only a teenager.
“My other son was on the phone with his grandfather and my daughter was on the phone with my sister. They were all quite frightened.”
Desiraye Solomon, who also left the plane with her daughter, described “hysterical scenes” after the captain said the plane was overweight, off-balance and passengers on a list were told to disembark.
Wilson said her son noticed 10 of the 11 passengers on that list were Māori. “My kids pointed this out to me . . . ‘all of us in here are Māori apart from one lady . . . Why are they doing this to us, is it because we’re Māori?’ “I was just trying to keep them calm,” Wilson said. After two hours Air NZ finally rang her but when asked why four children were taken off the flight, the staffer was unable to answer. “She said ‘ oh, I’m just doing what I’m told and don’t know what’s happening exactly’.”
By this stage, some of Wilson’s whānau had turned up to see them and waited outside. By 5pm, her daughter called saying she was hungry and thirsty.
Wilson spoke to a police officer who went out of his way to help the group but was also unable to answer questions.
Late on Saturday she was called by an Australian-based Air NZ manager who was “quite surprised” about the lack of communication. She was assured the picking of passengers was random and nothing to do with ethnicity.
Her children were sent to quarantine at an Auckland hotel. Their Waikato-based father drove up to accompany them and will have to complete the 14 days despite his children leaving for Australia today.
Wilson has been reimbursed for her children’s flights but is disappointed at how the airline handled the situation. “I just want them to monitor it properly.”
An Air NZ spokeswoman said it wasn’t accepting unaccompanied minors for international travel due to global restrictions in place and selfisolation rules in other countries.
“The customers in question were booked as adults which meant their ages were not flagged in the booking. We have been in contact with the parents of the children concerned since Saturday.”
Air NZ was working with the children, as well as the rest of the group, arranging their onward travel.
She said snacks and water were provided within two hours of being seated “in a glassed area” to fill out forms before the group was moved to the Customs hall.
The Ministry of Health earlier said because other people on the same flight had travelled from other parts of the world on their way to Brisbane, officials decided as a precaution to put the 11 passengers in managed isolation or quarantine facilities in Auckland until the next flight today.
“While the risk is minimal . . . we need to act with caution as our borders are our first line of defence against Covid-19,” the ministry said.
The Covid-19 All of Government Response Group said the circumstances around the incident were unique and unexpected.