A flight from the United States to India diverted to Shannon Airport early this morning after the crew reported an unidentified sound in the passenger cabin.
Air India flight AIC-102 had departed JFK International Airport in New York shortly after 11.00pm (Irish time) bound for Delhi. There were 240 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A350-941 jet.
Around five hours into the fourteen-and-a-half-hour journey, the crew made contact with air traffic controllers in Ireland to report an issue. The flight was around 500 kms southwest of Shannon at the time. The crew confirmed there was a ‘loud sound’ in the cabin and that they could not determine its source.
The crew added that they had spent thirty minutes trying to locate the cause of the sound without success. Despite resetting several systems the noise persisted but the crew confirmed that all the aircraft’s parameters were normal.
The flight crew added that there was no emergency situation and that they wished to divert and make a technical stop at Shannon to the have the issue investigated. The pilot said the noise was ‘very uncomfortable for the passengers.’
While the flight crew also confirmed they did not require any assistance from emergency services on landing, Shannon Airport’s own fire and rescue service was placed on standby as a precaution.
As the aircraft was expected to make an overweight landing, fire crews were deployed to designated holding positions adjacent to the runway in advance of the jet’s arrival. This is standard procedure at Shannon for any aircraft that has dumped fuel or has to land with a weight above an aircraft’s maximum design landing weight.
The flight landed safely at around 4.30am and was followed along the runway by emergency vehicles which also accompanied the aircraft to its parking position.
Efforts were underway to establish the source of the issue however it’s not yet clear when the flight will continue its journey.
