Two aircraft experienced technical difficulties at Shannon Airport today including one that had to divert to an airport in England.
This morning, a US military flight turned around over the Atlantic and returned to Shannon Airport after the crew of another military plane reported technical problems on the ground and requested them to return.
The United States Air Force (ASAF) C130H Hercules aircraft had departed from Shannon at around 10.15am for a destination in the U.S. Flight RCH-170 had arrived in Shannon on Tuesday afternoon from Ramstein in Germany.
Less than an hour into its journey, air traffic controllers contacted the flight and advised the crew that their colleagues on another USAF aircraft on the ground required them to return with equipment they needed before they could continue their journey.
The crew of the second USAF C130, operating as flight RCH-145 and which was preparing to depart from Shannon, reported a technical issue shortly before they were due to take off. The flight had also arrived from Germany yesterday.
While taxiing for departure, the crew reported they needed to return to a parking stand, shut down their engines and investigate the issue. It’s understood the crew reported an issue with a radar on board which they needed to complete their journey across the North Atlantic.
Flight RCH-170, which was carrying 29 crew and personnel on board, was cleared to turn around and return to Shannon.
The flight landed shortly before midday was accompanied to its parking stand by fire service vehicles. Once the flight crew confirmed there were no issues with the aircraft’s brake temperatures, fire crews were stood down.
Meanwhile, shortly after 3.00pm, the crew of an inbound business jet had to abort their landing after reporting an issue with their flightdeck instruments.
The US registered Gulfstream 650 jet was on approach to land at Shannon after travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The jet was less than a minute from landing when the crew advised air traffic controllers that they needed to ‘go-around.’ A go‐around is a procedure where an aircraft crew aborts its landing. This is usually initiated if a pilot or air traffic controller is not completely satisfied that the requirements for a safe landing are not being met.
The crew requested clearance to enter a holding pattern so that they work on resolving the issue. The flight was cleared to route to a holding point north east of the airport.
The flight crew later confirmed that they would be unable to land at Shannon because the technical issues combined with poor visibility and considered diverting to alternative airports where the weather was better.
After air traffic control checking with the weather with several other airports, the pilot confirmed they wished to divert to Stansted Airport in England.
