Passengers spend 16 hours in air after New Zealand flight turned around due to New York terminal power outage

By admin On Feb 18, 2023

Passengers on a New Zealand flight bound for the United States have spent 16 hours in the air, only to end up exactly where they started.

Flight NZ2 departed Auckland at 7.45pm on route to New York but the plane was forced to turn around after a power outage closed terminal one at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York late Thursday night.

It meant the plane landed back in Auckland 16 hours after it departed.

Passengers were on the flight for 16 hours after being turned around when on route to New York. (flight tracker)

The flight was scheduled to land in New York at 5.40pm on Friday in the US.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner travelled 14,207km after turning around near Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean.

The airport is working with operators to complete repairs, restore power and resume operations at the terminal.

A limited reopening is expected to happen on Saturday in the US.

The outage was caused by an electrical panel failure that resulted in a “small isolated fire overnight that was immediately extinguished,” according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“Terminal 1 represents 5 per cent of all JFK scheduled passenger flights,” John F. Kennedy Airport wrote on Twitter.

“Of today’s 64 scheduled Terminal 1 arrivals and departures, 13 will operate at other JFK terminals, 12 will operate at other local airports, and 39 have been cancelled.”

A flight from New York to Auckland was also cancelled, due to the power outage.