Mid-air scare for passengers

Air New Zealand passengers had a terrifying wake-up call yesterday morning when an emergency was declared on board their aircraft over the Pacific Ocean. Oxygen masks fell from overhead, and a loudspeaker began blaring, “This is an emergency. This is an emergency. Put on your mask”. An Air NZ spokeswoman confirmed there had been an incident on the flight, adding that the captain and inflight services manager had kept passengers informed with an announcement about two minutes after masks were deployed. “We are also in the process of getting in touch with customers on the flight to apologise for the disruption.” The airline’s chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said oxygen masks were deployed automatically as the plane descended from 34,000 feet to 27,000 feet to avoid forecast turbulence. “This was not an emergency situation and the oxygen masks were not required.” Engineers were inspecting the cabin monitoring system yesterday to find the cause of the fault, and it would be fixed before the next flight.