Woman out for walk finds possible plane door on Wellington beach

A woman out for a walk on Wellington's south coast says she was surprised to come across what appears to be part of a door from a plane.

Catherine* took pictures and video, with them showing a cream coloured curved panel with a small broken window wedged under a driftwood log, surrounded by yellow tape.

Do you know more? Email sammy.carter@rnz.co.nz

She popped it onto social media, as did another person separately, with the posts sparking dozens of comments from people trying to work out what the object was.

"I thought it was very strange, my first thought is it looked like it was from a plane because of the shape of the window," Catherine told RNZ.

The mystery has sparked dozens of comments, with some saying its numbered markings seem to indicate it was from a plane.

"(I) haven't heard of anything happening in this area, so when I saw it, I assumed it maybe had washed up from overseas."

The yellow tape around the door caught Catherine's attention, at first assuming it was a bonfire or broken glass.

"It's not something you expect to see on a morning walk."

RNZ sent pics to Ardome Flying School chief executive and aviation commentator Irene King.

She said the object appeared to be the interior of door from a small plane.

"Our engineers have had a look at it and they think that it's an interior fit out of an aircraft. Of course, the great mystery is - how the heck did it get there?"

The Civil Aviation Authority said no one had contacted it about the item.

But it reviewed the picture sent by RNZ, and based on the numbers printed on a section of the door it appeared part of it was manufactured in September 1982.

It said unfortunately it could not identify it further.

King said that, considering how unmarked the object looked, she did not believe it had been in the sea for a long time.

"It's very clean. Normally, when aircraft parts sit in water for any period of time you get all sorts of barnacle and sea life build up.

"It looks quite pristine, and it looks like somebody's just placed it there."

She referenced the infamous MH370 disappearance in 2014, where pieces of debris were found by members of the public on coastlines in the years after, including a part of the ring wing.

She also said it's hard to lose interior pieces of aircraft's "just like that", saying a plane had to be disassembled.

"It's very unusual."

The massive flooding event in Wellington last month saw Ōwhiro Stream flood, damaging homes and washing debris out to the bay.

* RNZ has agreed to not use her full name.

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