A passenger jet travelling from the United States to England diverted to Shannon Airport this morning after the crew declared an emergency over the Atlantic reporting an issue with one of the aircraft’s two engines.
United Airlines flight UA-938 was travelling from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Heathrow Airport near London at the time. There were 173 passengers and crew on board.
The crew of the Boeing 767-322(ER) jet issued a Mayday radio emergency call at shortly after 10.00am and advised air traffic controllers of their situation. The crew confirmed they had an issue with the left side engine.
Authorities at Shannon Airport were notified of the situation while emergency services were also alerted.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service were mobilised to the airport from Shannon town while crews from Ennis station were requested to take up a position at a dedicated holding point adjacent to the M18 motorway at Dromoland in case they were required.
The HSE, National Ambulance Service and An Garda Síochána were also informed and mobilised resources to the airport.
The flight landed safely at 11.18am and was pursued along the runway by airport and local authority fire crews. Emergency vehicles also accompanied the aircraft to the terminal building. Fire officers could be seen inspecting the left side (No. 1) engine while aircraft engineers were also requested to investigate the issue.
At 11.45am, the National Ambulance Service was stood down and crews left the airport while airport and local authority fire crews were stood down shortly afterwards.
A comment is awaited from the airline however it’s understood that a replacement aircraft will be flown to Shannon this afternoon to take the passengers onto Heathrow.
Meanwhile, a United Airlines flight from Shannon to Newark in the US didn’t depart as scheduled on Sunday. It’s understood that the Boeing 757-224 suffered a technical issue before departure and when it could not be resolved, the flight was cancelled.
The passengers were accommodated in hotels overnight. They’re expected to resume their journey today.