A flight from the UK to the Caribbean that suffered a problem with one of its two engines over the North Atlantic, was forced to turn around and divert to Shannon Airport this evening.
Virgin Atlantic flight VS-165 departed Heathrow Airport in England at around 4.30pm bound for Montego Bay in Jamaica. There were 241 passengers and a crew of 12 on board.
The Airbus A330-941 jet was over three hours into its journey when the flight crew advised air traffic controllers in Ireland of their issue. The crew declared an emergency confirming they were operating on one engine after an issue arose with the jet’s number 2 engine.
The crew requested clearance to divert to Shannon Airport and descended from their cruising altitude of 34,000 feet to 20,000 feet after turning back towards Ireland.
Air traffic controllers informed airport authorities of the emergency while the National Ambulance Service (NAS), local authority fire service and Gardaí were also alerted.
A number of NAS resources as well as units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations were dispatched to the airport in support of the airport’s own fire and rescue service.
The Irish Coast Guard was also alerted the Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat was placed on standby as a precaution.
About 15 minutes before the flight was due to land, airport and local authority fire crews took up positions at designated standby points adjacent to Shannon’s runway.
The flight landed safely at 9.24pm on its one operating engine and was pursued along the runway by fire crews. The jet stopped on the runway to allow fire crews check the aircraft’s undercarriage to ensure the braking system hadn’t overheated during the emergency landing.
Soon afterwards, the crew confirmed they would be able to taxi to the terminal building on their one operating engine. The aircraft was accompanied to its parking position by emergency crews who remained with the plane until all services were stood down at around 10.00pm.
A replacement aircraft was dispatched from Heathrow late on Saturday night to take the passengers back to London.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson commented: “Flight VS165 from London Heathrow to Montego Bay on 30 May 2026 was diverted to Shannon, Ireland, as a precautionary measure following a technical issue with the aircraft.”
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our top priority and a replacement aircraft was sent immediately to Shannon to bring customers back to Heathrow where they were all offered accommodation.
We sincerely apologise for the disruption to our customers’ journey, and our teams are in contact with them to discuss their options which include rebooking or a refund.”
A replacement aircraft was immediately sent to Shannon to return customers to London Heathrow where they were offered accommodation. Affected customers are being rebooked on to Montego Bay services subject to availability. Alternatively, they can choose a different destination or request a refund,” the airline added.