Several appliances were called to the airport in Southland just before 11am and police were put on standby.
Fire Service Southern communications shift manager Rewai Grace said firefighters were called to the airport after a report of a "problem'' with the aircraft.
"Thankfully no action was required by the Fire Service,'' he said.
Senior Sergeant Craig Brown said police were placed on standby but the Fire Service took the lead in the matter.
Air New Zealand has yet to confirm what took place and what concerns were held for the flight.
However, it landed without incident.
The plane left Wellington bound for Invercargill.
Brent and Maryann Scully, were returning to their home at Centre Bush, near Winton, with their sons Matthew (12) and Cameron (9).
Mr Scully said the woman pilot announced just before 11am there was a problem with the hydraulics on the primary braking system and she would be landing using the using the back-up braking system.
The landing would be faster than usual and fire appliances would be on standby in case the landing was smoky or flames appeared.
The landing was unremarkable, the Scullys said.
"It felt like quite normal,'' Mrs Scully said.
"If we hadn't been told there was a problem and seen the fire engines we wouldn't have known there was anything wrong, '' Mr Scully said.
In the air, some of the passengers "were freaking out'', Matthew said.
But Mrs Scully said the pilot "gave us complete confidence''.
"They seemed to know what they were doing, and they communicated what was going on.''
As passengers disembarked they were given a form letter signed by Air New Zealand chief operations office Bruce Parton apologising for the difficulties on the flight and any distress or concern it may have caused and giving contact details if passengers wanted to saying a member of the customer relations team would be in touch to offer support.
The plane was grounded and its departure a short time later cancelled, leaving dozens of passengers scrambling to rebook flights.
