Air New Zealand Boeing 787, performing flight from Auckland to Tokyo Narita with 268 passengers and 14 crew, was climbing out of Auckland when the crew stopped the climb due to engine vibrations and abnormal engine sounds.

The crew shut the engine down and returned to Auckland for a safe landing on runway 23L about 50 minutes after departure.

The airline reported the captain elected to shut one of the engines down as a precaution and returned to Auckland.

Passengers reported the aircraft began to shake violently, there were weird noises, clunking sounds, and electrical power went temporarily out.

The captain subsequently announced a minor technical problem with one of the engines. After landing fire fighters sprayed the left hand side of the aircraft.