False emergency declared on Air NZ flight from LA to Auckland

Air New Zealand passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Auckland overnight had an “alarming wakeup call” when a fault caused an emergency warning to go off and oxygen masks to drop down.

The airline has confirmed the event was “not an emergency situation”, and was wrongly triggered when the aircraft descended from 34,000 feet to 27,000 feet to avoid forecast turbulence.

Were you on this flight? Email [email protected] to tell us more.

READ MORE:
* All your questions about Air New Zealand’s flight changes, answered
* What are your rights when your flight is cancelled?
* Auckland Airport says international travel has made a ‘spirited comeback’

“During this descent an automated emergency warning activated requesting customers put on their oxygen masks,” said Captain David Morgan, Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer.

“We are sorry for the alarming wakeup call on this flight. This was not an emergency situation and the oxygen masks were not required.”

Morgan said while cabin crew and pilots worked quickly to reassure those onboard, the airline recognised it was a “distressing” event.

Engineers were inspecting the cabin monitoring system of the aircraft to determine the cause of the fault, so it could be rectified before the next flight.