Another passenger on the controversial Pacific Blue flight from Queenstown, which is being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority for possibly breaching flight rules, said he did not want to see the pilots "crucified" and there was "nothing concerning" about the flight.
Yesterday, the Otago Daily Times reported former Invercargill woman Julia McClean was "freaked out" by the June 22 flight from Queenstown to Sydney and during the ascent had feared the plane would crash into the side of the Remarkables mountain range.
Miss McClean said the plane began to taxi down the runway in fading light during a storm "without any warning".
However, a fellow passenger, who did not want to be named, said he was "a bit taken aback" by what he read in the ODT yesterday.
"When we boarded the flight the pilot told us the weather was too rough and we did sit there for some time.
"They towed us round to a different spot in case we had to disembark."
The man, from Cromwell, said the pilot next announced the weather was abating, so the plane would be moving to the runway in case there was a window for the flight to depart.
"Every step of the way he told us [what was going on].
"He said we had 10 minutes and if it [the weather] didn't clear we were going to be staying here [in Queenstown] the night.
"The next thing he was on and he said: `We are going to take off now'."
The man said he was an experienced traveller, but his wife was not.
Even so, she felt "quite safe at all times".
"When we took off it was a bit bumpy, but nothing untoward.
"This has just been blown out of all proportion.
"The pilot was really good with information - whether he was remiss [in taking off] is not for me to say [but] I don't want to see these pilots crucified for what they did."
Yesterday, he contacted the CAA and Queenstown Airport to voice his support for the pilots.
