A passenger jet that was forced to return to Dublin Airport earlier this week after the crew declared an emergency over the Atlantic, has diverted to Shannon this evening.
The same Boeing 757-224 jet was grounded at Shannon Airport earlier this month after a technical issue forced the airline to cancel that day’s scheduled flight from Shannon to Newark, New Jersey in the US.
The aircraft, operating as flight UA-711, was travelling from Dublin to Washington on Wednesday morning when the crew declared an emergency, turned around over the North Atlantic and returned to Dublin. The flight was met on arrival by emergency services.
The crew reported they an issue with one of the jet’s two engines and wished to return to have the issue investigated. The flight landed safely at Dublin about three hours after first departing. The flight was later cancelled and the passengers accommodated on alternative services.
The aircraft was then due to continue to Washington on Thursday but that flight was also cancelled.
This afternoon at around 4.15pm the same aircraft departed Dublin as flight UA-3901 destined for Newark. About an hour later, the flight crew contacted air traffic controllers, declared an emergency and requested clearance to divert to Shannon. It’s understood there were no passengers on board and just a flight crew of two.
The crew reported that their left side engine was operating but was ‘degraded.’
Authorities at Shannon were notified of the unscheduled arrival and the airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted along with the local authority fire service, National Ambulance Service and Gardaí.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations responded to the incident.
Fire crews took up positions adjacent to the airport’s runway ahead of the jet’s arrival.
The flight landed safely at 7.56pm and was pursued along the runway by emergency crews who also accompanied the jet to its parking position. Fire crews remained with the aircraft for a time before all agencies were stood down.
The airline confirmed: “That aircraft did divert to Shannon today to address a mechanical issue. The aircraft did not have any customers onboard, only our flight crew.”
