Air New Zealand flight NZ26 bound for Chicago had to turn back to Auckland approximately four hours into the 15-hour journey due to a technical issue. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registered ZK-NZQ landed back in Auckland after an 11-hour round trip.
The airline stated that the flight was forced to return to address a technical requirement identified en route, leading to the cancellation of the service. Passengers have been rebooked on the next available service.
In a similar incident in June, an Air New Zealand flight to Chicago had to return due to a fuel leak in one of its Rolls-Royce engines, resulting in a single-engine landing.
The airline launched the nonstop service between Auckland and Chicago in 2018.
Source: 9news