A cargo aircraft has been forced to return to Shannon Airport following a similar incident involving the same airplane on Tuesday night.
United Parcel Service (UPS) flight 6247 had taken off from Shannon at 9.43pm on Wednesday evening, bound for Cologne in Germany. There was a crew of two on board.
Soon after take-off, the crew of the Boeing 767-304(ER) jet informed air traffic controllers that they had encountered a ‘mechanical issue’ that they needed to ‘sort out.’
The flight had been cleared by controllers to an altitude of 29,000 feet however the crew asked if they could stop their climb and hold at 10,000 feet while they worked to resolve the problem.
After circling over North Clare for a time, the crew issued a Pan-pan radio call reporting they had a ‘hydraulic’ problem which was causing a ‘gear’ (landing gear) problem. A Pan-pan is not as serious as a May-day call but still indicates an urgency on board.
A short time later, the crew confirmed they were ready to descend and commence their approach to Shannon Airport, requesting that the airport’s fire service be alerted and asked to follow the aircraft down the runway after landing as a precaution.
The flight landed safely at 9.28pm and taxied to its parking position accompanied by airport fire crews.
On Tuesday night, the same aircraft, operating as UPS flight 249, took off from Shannon at around 8.00pm bound for Dublin. About 10 minutes after departure, the crew contacted air traffic controllers at Shannon to advise them they had a mechanical issue.
The crew reported a ‘gear problem’ and requested permission to enter a holding pattern while they worked to resolve the problem.
The crew issued a Pan-pan radio message, declared an emergency and confirmed they wished to return to Shannon. The flight departed its holding pattern after about 20 minutes to commence an approach to Shannon.
The crew indicated they would attempt to ‘put the gear down’ and if that didn’t work, they would enter another holding pattern while they continued to troubleshoot the issue.
A short time later, the crew confirmed that the landing gear had deployed successfully and that they wished to commence their approach to Shannon.
Shannon Airport’s fire and rescue service was alerted and crews mobilised to standby positions adjacent to the runway ahead of the jet’s arrival.
The flight landed safely at 9.00pm and was pursued along the runway by fire crews who then remained with the jet until it reached its parking position.