A private jet diverted to Shannon Airport this afternoon while a second aircraft, operated by the same company, turned back and returned to Shannon after departing earlier.
It’s now understood that the second flight returned to Shannon to collect the passengers from the first aircraft that diverted.
The were four persons on board the Bombardier Challenger 350 jet which is operated by private jet company NetJets.
At the time, flight was travelling from Amsterdam in The Netherlands to Houston in the US state of Texas via St John’s in Newfoundland. The jet had earlier flown from Paris to Amsterdam.
At around 12.30pm today, while the Bombardier Challenger 350 jet was passing through Irish airspace, the crew began to descend over Co Roscommon after seeking clearance to diver to Shannon Airport.
The crew descended from 43,000ft to 22,000ft where the flight entered a holding pattern for around 45 minutes before commencing an approach to Shannon. It’s understood this was so the crew could burn off aviation fuel to reduce their landing weight to within safety limits.
The crew confirmed they were not declaring an emergency and the flight landed without incident at 1.45pm.
A second jet, operated by the same company and which had left Shannon earlier, turned back over the Atlantic and returned to Shannon. That Bombardier Global 6000 jet had arrived in Shannon from Lisbon before departing for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
It’s believed that aircraft, which landed at 2.30pm, returned to Shannon to take on the passengers from the first diverted jet. The flight continued to Teterboro at 3.45pm.
