Pic Shows the Aftermath of Turbulence on an Air NZ Flight

It was pandemonium on board an Air New Zealand flight from Tokyo to Auckland after the plane encountered horrific turbulence during dinner service.

Passengers screamed as the plane dropped sharply twice without warning and starting shaking violently sending wine arcing into the overhead luggage compartments and fully-laid food trays littering aisles.

Passengers described their moment of terror on social media, with one saying the Air New Zealand staff deserved "a medal".

The flight was an hour out of Tokyo when it just dropped and started shaking, sending everything up in the air and spraying wine on to the cabin roof.

One passenger, posting on Reddit with username Ollieislame, said the plane was filled with screams.

"It was terrifying actually. I thought that might be the end of me. It was a red eye flight so we got breakfast at the end of the flight in the morning.

"Dinner was just served and everything was fine, granted we were only an hour into the flight. We had a little bump-de-bump at first and then all of a sudden the plane just dropped and started shaking like crazy.

"Then the second drop came. Everything up in the air, wine on the roof. Quite a few screams and general terror."

'Ollieislame' said a passenger sloshed her wine on the roof. Photo: Reddit

Another passenger, whose username was falsabaiana, wrote: "A guy did get burned by the tea. This was an hour into a 10-hour flight so you can imagine the smell by the end. Stuff was even spattered on the ceiling. The Air NZ staff deserve a medal."

According to another poster a cabin steward was injured trying to clean up the on board carnage.

Story: NZHerald