A passenger onboard an Australia-bound flight from Queenstown heard a loud “bang” moments before flames burst from the engine, forcing an emergency landing.

Flight VA148 passenger Michael Hayward took a video from his seat, which he posted online, showing flames shooting from the side of the Virgin Airlines plane before it diverted to Invercargill, where it landed safely, about 7pm.

He said he heard the sound about 10 seconds after take-off.

“Flames started to shoot out the right-hand engine as it tried to restart itself.

“Initially after the bang, there was some panic and crying, but this very quickly stopped as people comforted each other, and within minutes, laughter as people joked about how they [would] get home without flying, they’ll never go on a plane again,” Hayward said.

Hayward said that 20 minutes later the pilot told passengers over the speaker that a flock of birds had been spotted and had been “ingested into the engine”.

He said as soon as the cabin crew could, they went to every passenger and reassured them and resecured the cabin.

“The pilots flying on one engine were excellent, the cabin crew did a great job and the ground team at Invercargill Airport to help turn us around promptly.”

Hayward had spent a month exploring the south of New Zealand and was returning home to the United Kingdom.

He would miss his connecting flights due to the incident and was unsure how long it would be until he got home.

Another passenger told the Otago Daily Times the experience was “absolutely horrifying”.

“We are beyond keen to get home, but no idea what is going on,” the woman said.

Serene Ting Gin Luoi reported seeing flames out of the window.

Her mother Chan Su Fang told the ODT the mood inside the plane had been worried but calm.

Virgin Australia chief operations officer Stuart Aggs said passengers would be taken back to Queenstown by bus, flown to Brisbane at 4.30pm before leaving for Melbourne at 9.25pm.

Flames engulfed an engine on a Virgin Airlines flight bound for Melbourne. Photo / Michael Hayward

The plane had just left Queenstown Airport and appeared to have experienced engine trouble during take-off, about 6 pm on Monday.

Members of the public reported seeing flames coming from an engine and heard loud bangs, as the flight ascended.

Virgin Airlines confirmed 73 people were on board - 67 passengers and six crew.

One passenger said on social media there had been a bird strike.

Video footage from the ground shows flames coming from the plane as it climbed over the Shotover Delta, with witnesses reporting “loud bangs”.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the passenger said the pilot made the announcement over the public address system.

“Pilot confirmed us hitting several birds on the way out. We’re now sitting on the Invercargill runway as the fire crews check for damage.”

VOZ148 Flight from Queenstown to Melbourne is diverted to Invercargill after what appears to be an engine fire onboard. Photo / via Queenstown Trading Meta 

Queenstown Airport’s chief executive believes a large bird must have been involved in the incident.

Glen Sowry told RNZ’s Morning Report bird strike couldn’t be confirmed until the 737′s engine was inspected.

There had been a couple of confirmed bird strikes involving smaller birds at the airport over the past month, which was pretty normal activity, he said.

“If you get a bigger bird that is ingested into an engine, which looks probable that this is what may have occurred on this occasion, then depending on whereabouts through the engine it goes it can do quite significant damage to critical parts of the engine.”

Witness Nick Lambert saw the aircraft flying overhead.

“It was making one hell of a pulsing/throbbing noise out of one engine then it was shooting flames out.

“It continued climbing and the noise and flame stopped.”

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Glynn Lewers said it would have been a pretty scary moment for the passengers, but all the procedures and protocols for that type of incident went according to plan.

“From our point of view, the airline and pilot did what needed to be done and followed procedures and we got a safe landing in Invercargill, which is great.”

In an update shortly before 9pm, Aggs said all passengers had safely disembarked the aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it was aware of the incident involving a Virgin Australia aircraft that took off from Queenstown and diverted to Invercargill.

“It was unofficially reported that there was an engine fire on climb-out as a result of a suspected bird strike.”

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.