A flight from Shannon to Germany was forced to return to the airport tonight after experiencing technical issues on departure.
The Maersk Air Cargo Boeing 767 jet, using the callsign White Star 9181, had just departed Shannon Airport for Cologne in Germany at around 10.15pm.
Soon after take-off, the flight crew advised air traffic controllers that they had ‘some technical issues’ and wished to stop their climb at 10,000 feet and enter a holding pattern. It’s understood the issue related to the aircraft’s flaps. The crew did not declare an emergency.
The aircraft remained in a holding pattern over Co Limerick and reported that a green laser had been shone at their aircraft while holding. After circling for over half an hour, the crew confirmed to controllers that they were ready to make an approach to Shannon.
The flight landed safely at 10.05pm and returned to a maintenance hangar.
It’s understood that the aircraft had undergone maintenance at Shannon having arrived from Cologne on August 30th last. The jet was returning to Cologne when the issue arose.
