A transatlantic jet has made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport after suffering an engine problem off the south coast this morning.
United Airlines flight UA-52 was travelling from Washington in the United States to Zurich, Switzerland at the time.
There were 116 passengers and 9 crew on board.
Shortly after 5.00am, as the Boeing 767-300 jet was passing south of Ireland, the crew declared an emergency reporting an issue with the aircraft’s left engine.
As the flight was rerouting towards Shannon, emergency procedures were being implemented at the airport.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Enns stations were mobilised to the Shannon in support of the airport’s own fire and rescue crews. National Ambulance Service paramedics and Gardaí were also dispatched to the scene as part of the emergency plan.
Airport and local authority fire crews took up positions at designated holding points adjacent to the runway in advance of the jet’s arrival. The flight landed safely at 5.42am and was pursued along the runway by fire crews.
A replacement aircraft has arrived in Shannon from London Heathrow to take the passengers onto their destination.
An airline spokesperson has confirmed that their “team at Shannon Airport is providing assistance to customers of United flight 52 (Washington/Dulles – Zurich) today, which diverted to Shannon Airport to address a technical issue. The aircraft landed safely. All customers have been provided with refreshments and we are making arrangements for our customers to complete their journeys as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport confirmed: “the AAIU were notified of an occurrence at Shannon Airport this morning and an investigation is being conducted.”
It was the second time in less than a fortnight that a United Airlines flight travelling from the U.S. to Europe was forced to make an emergency diversion to Shannon.
On March 28th, United Airlines flight 134 from Newark to Zurich diverted to Shannon suffering an engine failure over the Atlantic. It later emerged that the jet’s right engine had suffered damage in the incident. The Air Accident Investigation Unit later confirmed that a team of inspectors had been sent to Shannon to carry out a preliminary examination of that incident.
