An Air New Zealand flight to Chicago was forced to turn around and land with only one engine because of a fuel leak.

Air New Zealand head of flight operations Hugh Pearce said the incident is “uncommon” but was handled well by pilots.

NZ26 from Auckland to Chicago returned to Auckland on June 23 only an hour after departure due to the discovery of a fuel usage discrepancy.

The issue in the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was caused by a fuel leak and Pearce said the teams followed safety procedures by returning to Auckland on a single engine so the aircraft could undergo engineering inspection.

“This is standard practice in these circumstances and the landing was completely safe.

“While this scenario is uncommon, our pilots train for it regularly and followed safety protocols.”

Air New Zealand engineering teams have inspected the aircraft and installed a replacement engine as a proactive measure.

“The aircraft has now returned to service,” Pearce said.