A cargo flight that had just taken off from Shannon was forced to the return to the airport this morning after the crew reported a technical problem after departure.
Flight DAE-3310, operated by international logistics company DHL (Aero Expreso) took off from Shannon shortly before 9.30am. There were four crew members on board.
As the Boeing 767-300(ER) jet routed north over Co Clare to commence it’s transatlantic crossing, the crew issued a Pan-pan radio call and informed air traffic controllers that they had a mechanical issue with their aircraft. The crew stopped their climb and levelled off at 20,000 feet to troubleshoot the problem while circling over the Galway coastline.
A Pan-pan radio call is less serious than a May-day distress message and only indicates a problem on board but no immediate threat to the aircraft.
The 25-year-old aircraft had undergone maintenance at a facility at Shannon Airport and was being flown back to Miami in the U.S. where it was due to returned to service. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on July 2nd according to records.
About 10 minutes are taking off from Shannon, the flight crew reported a ‘flap indication’ problem and requested clearance to return to the airport. Air traffic controllers cleared the flight to turn around and return to the airport.
The flight landed safely at 10.15am and was met on arrival by airport fire and rescue vehicles which followed the jet after landing. The aircraft returned to the maintenance hangar where engineers were waiting to investigate the issue.
