Shannon Airport has dealt with two further emergency diversions since operations were brought to a standstill for over two hours this morning when the crew of a cargo flight used an emergency slide to evacuate their aircraft on the runway.
In the latest incident, an American Airlines flight from London to Phoenix in the U.S. diverted to Shannon this afternoon. Flight AA-195 departed Heathrow Airport at around 12.20pm and was about three hours into its journey when the crew turned around and diverted to Shannon.
The Boeing 777-200 jet landed safely at 5.36pm but was met by airport fire and rescue vehicles as a precaution as the pilot confirmed they would be making an overweighting landing. There were 183 passengers and crew on board.
National Ambulance Service paramedics were also dispatched to the airport and removed a passenger to hospital for treatment. It’s expected that the flight will resume its journey this evening.
The flight departed Shannon at 7.30pm for New York JFK rather than its original destination of Phoenix. It’s understood that the crew would not have been able to continue to Phoenix without exceeding crew hours regulations.
Earlier, the crew of an Air France flight from Paris to Chicago declared an emergency over the North Atlantic also reporting they had a passenger on board who required medical assistance.
Flight AF-136 was about an hour southwest of Ireland, over two hours into its trip, when the crew declared a medical emergency and turned around. The crew opted to divert to Shannon and requested that emergency medical services be alerted and available for them on arrival.
The flight landed at Shannon at 3.41pm and was met by airport fire and rescue crews. Emergency vehicles remained with the Airbus A350-900 jet as it was directed to a remote stand where an ambulance was waiting. The ill passenger was transported by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
That flight continued to the US at 5.45pm.
Shortly before 7.00am today, operations were brought to a standstill at Shannon for over two hours after the airport’s only operational runway was blocked by an aircraft that had made an emergency landing.
The crew of the cargo flight evacuated their jet on the runway after earlier declaring a Mayday over the Atlantic reporting a possible fire on board. The Cargolux Boeing 747-400(ER) landed safely however no evidence of fire was found.
Two flights were forced to divert to Cork Airport as a result but returned to Shannon soon after operations resumed.
It has emerged that the same Boeing 747-400(ER) jet made diverted to Shannon on February 2022. The flight crew also reported a fire indication while the aircraft was also carrying a consignment of flowers.
Three weeks later, on February 22nd 2022, another Cargolux Boeing 747-400 diverted to Shannon Airport, also with a false cargo hold fire indication.
Earlier: Flight operations have resumed at Shannon after after the airport’s only operational runway was blocked for over two hours by an aircraft that had made an emergency landing.
The crew of the transatlantic cargo flight evacuated their jet on the runway after earlier declaring a Mayday reporting a possible fire on board. The Cargolux Boeing 747-400(ER) jet was travelling from Miami, Florida to Amsterdam in the Netherlands at the time.
Flight CLX-94K was about an hour west of Shannon when the crew declared an emergency at around 6.00am and requested clearance from air traffic controllers to descend from 37,000ft to 25,000ft initially.
The crew confirmed there was a crew of three on board and they were carrying a consignment of flowers. The crew also advised controllers they had an indication in the cockpit suggesting a possible fire on the main deck.
The crew confirmed they wished to divert and land at Shannon where authorities were notified of the situation and a multi-agency emergency plan was promptly put into action.
Shannon Airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted and crews deployed to holding points adjacent to the runway ahead of the aircraft’s arrival. Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations were mobilised along with National Ambulance Service paramedics and Gardaí.
The crew advised controllers shortly before landing that believed the fire alarm was a false activation but that they would evacuate the aircraft on the runway as a precaution.
The flight landed safely at 6.51am and came to a stop on the runway where the three-person crew evacuated the aircraft using an emergency slide. Operations were brought to a standstill at Shannon while the runway was blocked by the incident aircraft.
Airport fire crews used thermal imaging cameras to scan the jet’s fuselage externally for any ‘hotspots’ however no indication of a fire was found. After the crew had evacuated, firefighters wearing breathing apparatus boarded the aircraft to carry out a more detailed inspection however no evidence of a fire was found.
The early morning Ryanair flight from Stansted Airport in London to Shannon was placed in a holding pattern southeast of the airport for over an hour but later diverted to Cork. A second Ryanair flight from Krakow circled north of the airport for a time until the crew also opted to divert to Cork.
An Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to London was also delayed from departing while the outbound legs of the diverted aircraft are expected to be delayed.
Operations resumed at Shannon at 9.20am after the emergency evacuation slide and been securws from the aircraft and the jet was towed clear of the runway.
It’s now understood that there was no fire on board and that the indication was a false alarm.
A spokesperson for the Shannon Airport Group confirmed that a cargo flight routing from Miami to Amsterdam landed safely at Shannon Airport this morning.
“The aircraft was met on arrival by emergency service and Shannon Airport personnel. All crew members safely evacuated the plane. As a result, FR093 from Stansted to Shannon and FR3326 from Krakow to Shannon has diverted to Cork. Intending passengers are being asked to contact their airlines.”
Both diverted Ryanair flights were due to return to Shannon once the airport had reopened.
In February 2022, a Cargolux Boeing 747-400 freighter diverted to Shannon with a similar problem. That was also a false alarm.
In 2014 there were three incidents where flights diverted to after heat from organic materials in the cargo holds activated onboard fire alarms. In a number of cases, it was found that the organic cargo the flights were transporting resulted in the false fire alarms and in some cases, activation of the aircraft’s fire suppression systems.
In one incident, a consignment of vegetables activated the jets fire alarm and sprinkler systems while in another, the heat from two tonnes of mangos triggered an aircraft’s sensitive fire detection system forcing the flight to divert to Shannon.
