A private jet was forced to return to Shannon Airport soon after take off this afternoon after the crew reported an issue on board.
Flight FJ-066L took off from Shannon shortly after 1.00pm destined for Le Bourget Airport near Paris. There were five persons on board the flight.
The Embraer Praetor 600 jet, registered in Malta, is operated by luxury private jet company Flexjet.
Just minutes after taking off from Shannon, the crew of the Embraer Praetor 600 jet issued a Pan-pan radio call to air traffic controllers. A ‘Pan-pan’ indicates an ‘urgency’ on board but is not as serious as a ‘May-day’.
The jet had reached an altitude of 10,000 feet when the crew advised controllers they had experienced an ‘electrical issue’ and that they wished to return to the airport.
The flight was cleared to return to Shannon as requested while the crew confirmed to controllers that they expected to make a ‘normal landing.’
On the ground at Shannon, as the crew had declared a Pan-pan, the airport’s fire and rescue service was alerted. Rescue crews were mobilised to holding points adjacent to the runway ahead of the jet’s arrival.
The flight landed safely about 20 minutes after originally departing and was followed along the runway by rescue vehicles. Fire crews remained with the jet as it taxied to its parking stand.
The aircraft was met on stand by ground staff while fire crews retuned to the station once the jet was parked. It’s expected that engineers will investigate the issue before the aircraft continues its journey.