A Qantas flight to Brisbane was forced to turn back to Auckland after an “engine-related issue” this morning.
Flight QF120 took off at around 6.30am and was an hour into its flight when the decision was made to return to Auckland.
The Boeing 737-800 then completed a holding pattern over Northland to reduce its landing weight.
It landed without incident in Auckland at around 9.30am.
A Qantas spokesperson said engineers troubleshot the issue and the flight has since departed again for Brisbane.
“We apologise to our customers for the extended travel time this morning.”
The plane was expected to arrive in Brisbane at 2pm (local time).
Flight radar data published online shows the Boeing 737-800 looping around on itself offshore of Kaitaia, over Northland and then for a final time west of Auckland prior to landing.
