A private jet has diverted to Shannon Airport this afternoon after the crew reported a fuel leak over the North Atlantic.
The Bombardier Global 7500 jet, using the callsign N63RP, had departed Luton Airport in England at around 12.55pm with four persons on board. The flight was destined for an airport in the United States.
The aircraft had climbed to an altitude of 43,000 feet and was about an hour into its journey, around 200 kilometres northwest of Donegal, when the crew reported an issue.
The crew advised air traffic controllers at Shannon that they had an issue on board which they were discussing with their company but confirmed it was likely they would need to divert to Shannon.
It’s understood the crew detected a fuel leak from the jet’s left wing which had lasted for about 15 minutes. By the time crew had commenced their diversion to Shannon, the leak had ceased.
The crew later confirmed they wished to divert to Shannon and advised controllers they would need to burn off aviation fuel before commencing their approach.
The flight descended to 14,000 feet and entered a holding pattern over East Clare for around 50 minutes. Flight crews often hold away from an airport to dump or burn off fuel to ensure their aircraft touched down within safe landing weight limits. Shannon Airport’s fire and rescue crews were placed on standby as a precaution.
The crew commenced their approach to Shannon and landed safely at 3.33pm.
After the jet had landed, an inspection of the runway determined that there had been some contamination as a result of the fuel leak. Airport crews carried out a cleaning operation to clear the fuel and just a few departing aircraft faced a short delay.
It’s understood that same aircraft suffered a similar fuel issue and fire during an internal flight in the United States in 2022.
*The flight resumed its journey shortly after 6.00pm.