A Jetstar aircraft inbound from Auckland has veered off the runway on landing at Christchurch airport today.
The aircraft, an Airbus A320-200, was operating as flight JQ225 from Auckland airport and suffered a runway excursion on landing.
Jetstar JQ225 Landing Incident Christchurch
According to news reports, the aircraft “swerved wildly” during the landing role resulting in it leaving the runway.
Photos surfacing on social media show that the aircraft then came to a stop on the grass. The aircraft was then attended by emergency ground vehicles.
Christchurch airport, on New Zealand’s South Island, subsequently reopened to traffic following the landing incident.
Airport services are now operating as normal, after authorities conducted an inspection and cleaning of the active runway.
Steering Issue Cited
Aviation regulators will now look into the runway excursion incident and its cause. According to a spokesman for the airline Jetstar, a steering issue was the root cause of all the runway excursion.
“After landing in Christchurch, the aircraft experienced a steering issue, causing it to veer on the runway at low speed.”
“There are no injuries to passengers or crew. The aircraft was towed to the gate and all passengers have disembarked.”
The aircraft involved in today’s landing incident at Christchurch airport was an Airbus A320-200, registered VH-VFF.
This is a 12.3-year-old narrowbody aircraft belonging to the carrier Jetstar Airways. It has been in service with the airline since its initial delivery in March 2012.
Qantas, the parent company, wholly owns Jetstar, an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
Jetstar is part of Qantas’ two brand strategy of having Qantas Airways for the premium full-service market and Jetstar for the low-cost market.
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