A flight to Hong Kong had to make an emergency return to Auckland after the pilot became sick mid-flight.
The plane left Auckland just before midnight and was crossing the Tasman when passengers were alerted to the need to return immediately to Auckland because of a medical emergency.
David Morgan, Air New Zealand's Chief Operations Integrity & Standards Officer and Chief Pilot told Newshub the pilot was on his scheduled rest and not operating the aircraft at the time.
The pilot was taken to hospital by ambulance, where he is being monitored.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft arrived back in Auckland at 4.17am, according to online flight tracking systems.
An Auckland Airport spokesperson told Newshub flight a NZ87 due to go out on Tuesday night has been rescheduled for 1700 on Wednesday.
Air NZ says they apologise to customers for the disruption to their travel plans.
Newshub.
