A private jet travelling from England to the United States was forced to divert to Shannon Airport this evening after the crew reported a mechanical problem over the North Atlantic.
The Gulfstream G550 jet, operated by Pegasus Elite Aviation and using the callsign PEG-5, departed Stansted Airport shortly after 3.15pm and was destined for Minot International Airport, North Dakota in the United States. There were six people on board.
At around 4.40pm, while the jet was about 400 kilometres north west of Donegal, the crew contacted air traffic controllers to report they had an alarm in the cockpit indicating an issue with one of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems.
The flight turned around and rerouted towards Shannon Airport around 600 kilometres to the south east. The jet landed safely at around 5.40pm.
Airport fire and rescue crews were alerted and mobilised as a precaution and followed the jet along the runway after it landed. This was to ensure the aircraft didn’t suffer a hydraulic leak which would have contaminated the runway surface.
One inbound scheduled flight was slightly delayed after being placed in a holding pattern for a short time west of the airport. This was to allow the diverting aircraft priority landing. Operations at Shannon were otherwise unaffected.
