Jetstar passengers were ‘distressed and vomiting’ after pilots were forced to suddenly pull out of a landing in rough weather
- Pilots performed a ‘go-around’ on flight JQ263 into Wellington on Tuesday night
- One traveler said many fellow passengers were left ‘distressed and vomiting’
- Jetstar said the move was routine and passengers were not in any danger
Passengers on board a Jetstar flight were ‘distressed and vomiting’ after pilots pulled out from a landing as the plane approached the runway.
Frequent flier Graham Vaughan-Jones said flight JQ263 from Auckland went through a ‘very rough’ descent into Wellington Airport on Tuesday night.
He said passengers were so distressed they vomited after the pilots canceled their approach and accelerated past the runway to circle around for a second attempt.
Jetstar flight JQ263 from Auckland to Wellington performed a ‘go-around’ on Tuesday leaving many passengers shaken (stock image)
‘I had a young woman alongside me who was very distressed [and] said she was going to faint. So I tried to talk her through it saying… I was sure that the pilots were on top of it,’ Mr Vaughan-Jones told Stuff.
With decades of air travel travel behind him, he found the experience ‘entertaining’ and thought the pilots and flight crew handled themselves well.
Mr Vaughan-Jones said after the plane landed on the second try, the passengers burst into ‘sustained clapping’.
‘I thought they handled it really, really well. I said to the in-flight staff who were standing there [on disembarking] ’10 out of 10’, and they said ‘well, you better convey that to the people up front’,’ he said.
Jetstar said the procedure was a routine ‘go-around’ in which the pilot pulls out from the landing if they feel safety conditions for the runway are not met.
One experienced air traveler said he found the experience entertaining though others on the plane vomited (stock image)
In this case the pilot made the decision because of a ‘large gust of wind’ as the plane descended.
‘The flight subsequently landed normally at Wellington Airport, 10 minutes after its planned schedule,’ Jetstar said.
‘Our pilots are comprehensively trained to operate in these types of weather conditions, and performing go-arounds is a normal procedure that pilots may elect to use during any approach.’
According to Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, about 800 go-arounds are performed in the country each year – averaging about two per day.