Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 returns to Auckland with damaged windscreen

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 787-9 ZK-ZNJ (MSN 37966)

Air New Zealand travelers looking to head to Japan had their trip cut short on Sunday (the 18th of June), when the flight needed to turn around, just three hours into a ten-hour journey between Auckland (AKL/NZAA) and Tokyo's Narita (NRT/RJAA) due to a damaged windscreen.

The aircraft had departed from Auckland's runway 23L at 9.12am local, some 22 minutes behind schedule, and was three hours into the journey and passing over the northern islands of Vanuatu (Espiritu Santo) when damage was noted to the exterior layer of the windscreen. 

The pilots then made the appropriate decision to return to base, landing on runway 05R 3.05pm local where repairs could be made, and passengers could be re-accommodated.

Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer at Air New Zealand, David Morgan, noted:

"Windows on aircraft are made up of multiple layers to withstand damage, however, to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, it’s part of our standard operating procedure to return to one of our ports to allow our maintenance team to undertake repairs. Our team is currently working on rebooking customers on the next available service, and we thank our customers for their patience while we do this."

Passengers were advised mid-flight that they would be heading back to Auckland, and news quickly filtered through the cabin once flight attendants spoke to passengers mentioning it was due to damage on the windscreen. Whilst investigations are ongoing into how the damage was made on the Boeing 787-9, it is unlikely that it was due to impact from something in the air, given the flight was traveling at 35,000 feet.

Before its planned trip north to Japan, it had operated only one rotation the day prior. It was NZ145/146, a return trip from Auckland / Brisbane (BNE/YBBN). 

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Air New Zealand 

Code: NZ/ANZ

Aircraft: Boeing 787.9

Registration: ZK-NZJ

Serial Number: 37966

Engines: 2 x RR Trent 1000

First Flew: 10/08/2016

Age: 6 Yrs. 9 Mts.

According to Flightradar24, the aircraft performed NZ289 to Shanghai (PVG/ZSPD) last night.