NZ PM in mid-air drama From correspondents in Wellington
April 13, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
A SMALL plane carrying New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark was forced to make an emergency landing this morning after rapidly losing altitude when a door swung open in mid-air, flight officials confirmed.
Ms Clark said she wondered whether she would "live or die" when the door dislodged and opened during turbulence on a flight from Rotorua in the cental North Island to Wellington. The pilot sent out a distress call and diverted to the nearest airport, which was at Paraparaumu just north of the capital.
Ms Clark told National Radio she was sitting in the rear of the plane reading her papers when they struck turbulence without warning.
The sudden movement of the plane dislodged the door and as it began to open, two police officers travelling with the prime minister grabbed hold of it.
They could not shut the door, so they held on to it through the emergency landing.
(snip)
Ms Clark would not comment on whether the door on the six-seater plane had been closed properly before take-off, saying that the investigation would look at that question.
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