Passengers on a Jetstar flight to Wellington on Saturday cheered when the plane finally reached its destination, following two aborted landing attempts in strong winds.
One of the passengers, Simon Baumfield, says the flight returned to Auckland after the failed attempts, but the pilot made the trip again successfully.
Mr Baumfield says all three approaches to the runway at Wellington were hair-raising, but the first was especially frightening because the plane hit an air-pocket.
"The plane just dropped suddenly. I felt my stomach up in my mouth. People were screaming like the plane was about to crash. It was very hair-raising.
"I'm from Wellington so it wasn't quite as bad for me but I'm sure those visiting Wellington for the first time just didn't know what was happening."
He says there was great relief when the third approach was successful.
"When the plane touched down you would have thought we'd won the Rugby World Cup all over again. It just exploded with cheers and yahooing and clapping and that was sustained virtually all the way until the air bridge".
