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Plane Slides Off Runway At Christchurch Airport

A plane slid off the runway in Christchurch. Photo: Supplied / JJ Green

A Jetstar aircraft has slid off a runway at Christchurch Airport during landing.

Freelance Journalist Diana Clement was a passenger on flight JQ225 and says it was a frightening landing.

"We swerved off the runway onto the grass then swerved violently back onto the runway before coming to a halt across the main runway."

Clement told Morning Report they were told there had been a hydrolic leak on the right hand side.

"Everyone's feeling a bit shaky."

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She thought the flight itself did not feel out of the ordinary.

But she said some other passengers heard a weird noise when they were flying over, roughly New Plymouth. And then a similar noise on landing.

The incident happened at 7:45am on Friday.

Emergency services were at the scene.

There are no reports of injuries.

Jetstar said after landing the aircraft experienced a steering issue, causing it to veer on the runway at a low speed.

A Jetstar aircraft slid off the runway at Christchurch Airport on arrival on 31 May, 2024.

A Jetstar aircraft slid off the runway at Christchurch Airport on arrival. Photo: Supplied / JJ Green

Christchurch airport said runways were currently closed to incoming aircraft.

Several domestic arrivals and departures to Christchurch have been cancelled.

The airport has advised people to check the website for a full list of delays.

Karin Small, a passenger aboard the flight, told RNZ she had no idea anything was wrong until the landing.

"I've never been on a plane that that's happened to before," she said.

"It skidded out and then took off again and then landed on the grass and then the fire people came.

"I was pretty calm about it and the staff were pretty good about people keeping it together."

One passenger told the NZ Herald "something went horribly wrong".

Cancellations board at Christchurch Aiport.

Cancellations at Christchurch Airport. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

"We ended up on the grass," they said.

The Jetstar aircraft was towed to the gate for passengers to disembark.

Planes were circling along the East Coast, unable to land due to the incident.

These are flights from Tauranga, Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Palmerston North and Singapore

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