List of Air New Zealand accidents and incidents

Air New Zealand and its subsidiaries have been involved in several incidents and accidents, including five hull loss accidents.

• On 27 March 1965, Akaroa, a Lockheed L-188 Electra registered ZK-TEC, crashed at Whenuapai during a training flight. All 6 occupants survived, but the aircraft was destroyed.^[1]
• On 4 July 1966, a Douglas DC-8-52 with the registration ZK-NZB crashed at Auckland International Airport shortly after taking off on a training flight, killing the pilot and flight engineer of the five person crew (no passengers were on board). The crew had simulated a failure of the No. 4 engine (the outer engine on the right wing) by bringing the cockpit power control lever to the idle position but inadvertently selected reverse thrust, which sent the aircraft out of control.^[2][3][4]

• On 22 December 1978, a light aircraft became lost over the Pacific Ocean and the crew of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating as Air New Zealand Flight 103 was asked to search for it. They successfully found it using a technical navigation method, with the help of an oil rig under tow. The captain then released a thin stream of fuel out of the DC-10's fuel dump tube creating a ten-mile-long vapour trail in the direction of Norfolk Island for the light aircraft to follow.
• On 17 February 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 4374, a Fokker F27 Friendship registered ZK-NFC, crashed into Manukau Harbour while on final approach. One of the crew and one company staff member were killed.^[5]
• On 28 November 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica, flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, killing all 257 people on board. An unannounced change in flight path coordinates by the airline's navigational division the morning of the accident, combined with unique Antarctic weather and conditions, resulted in the aircraft crashing into Mount Erebus when the flight crew thought they were safely flying down McMurdo Sound. The crash and subsequent inquiry resulted in major changes in Air New Zealand's management.
• On 19 May 1987, during the first of Fiji's coups d'état that year, Air New Zealand Flight 24, a Boeing 747-200 flying from Tokyo Narita to Auckland via Nadi, was hijacked at Nadi International Airport, Fiji. An aircraft refueller entered the Boeing 747-200's cockpit and held the captain, first officer and flight engineer hostage for six hours, before the flight engineer managed to distract the hijacker and hit him over the head with a bottle of duty-free whisky. All 105 passengers and 24 crew (including the three hostages) on board were uninjured. Air New Zealand subsequently suspended all of its services to/through Nadi for seven months.^[6][7]

• On 18 June 2007, Air New Zealand Flight 2300, a Beechcraft 1900D from Timaru to Wellington registered ZK-EAK, suffered a landing gear failure, and belly landed at Woodbourne Airport in Blenheim. The aircraft was substantially damaged, but all 17 occupants survived.^[8]
• On 8 February 2008, a woman attempted to hijack Air New Zealand Flight 2279, a British Aerospace Jetstream from Blenheim to Christchurch, New Zealand. The woman stated she had a bomb on board. Both pilots and one passenger suffered stab injuries. The aircraft landed safely and the woman was arrested. There were no injuries to the other passengers on board.^[9][10]
• On 27 November 2008, XL Airways Germany Flight 888T, an Airbus A320-232, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Canet-en-Roussillon on the French coast. The aircraft was an Air New Zealand-owned Airbus A320 leased to XL Airways Germany registered D-AXLA (formerly ZK-OJL), and was undertaking a technical flight immediately prior to a scheduled handover back to Air New Zealand. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was painted in Air New Zealand livery. Seven people — two Germans (the pilot and co-pilot from XL Airways) and five New Zealanders (one pilot, three aircraft engineers and one member of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand) – were killed.^[11]