Authorities are investigating the failure of of an aircraft's nose wheel which led to an emergency landing at Blenheim Airport.
The Air Nelson Q-300 landed safely with minor damage and no injuries to the 41 passengers and three crew on Wednesday afternoon.
The plane was on a flight from Hamilton to Wellington and was approaching the capital when a fault was noticed in the front landing gear.
The aircraft was diverted to Blenheim, as it was less busy, and circled for about 20 minutes before making a safe landing.
Six fire crews and four ambulances were on stand-by. However, the landing was described by the airport fire chief as text-book.
The passengers were later transported by road to Nelson for a flight to Wellington.
Listen to more