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Prince William found himself at the centre of a mid-air drama after the plane in which he was flying got caught in bad weather. The Air New Zealand flight made two attempts to land but was eventually forced to give up because, in the words of the pilot, "we wouldn't have seen the runway until we were about to hit it".
Wills and his aides were among 65 passengers on board the flight bound for the southern city of Invercargill. With thick fog and cloud enveloping the plane, pilot Jeff Lynton descended to 400ft before deciding to abort the landing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, sorry about that," he said over the PA system. "We made two approaches – we did the best we could." Captain Lynton then changed course and headed for Christchurch where he knew he would be able to make a safer approach. "I wanted to get the boy down," he explained afterwards. "I've only had this happen once before and I've been flying for five years."
The second-in-line had been planning to visit Arrowtown School where 300 youngsters, who had decorated the building with Union Jack bunting, were excitedly waiting for his arrival. "He's very sorry he couldn't be there," said his spokesman. "As far as the aircraft was concerned he was completely relaxed - he knew the plane was in good hands."
The incident came just days after a mobile phone sparked a security alert on the plane carrying William to New Zealand. When one of the cabin crew found the phone in an ice bucket the captain considered making an emergency landing, but it was then discovered it belonged to an absent-minded member of the catering company. |
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