A cargo aircraft was forced to return to Shannon Airport this morning after the crew reported a technical issue off the Irish Coast.
The Star Air Boeing 767-219 cargo jet, operating as flight SRR-9232, left Shannon shortly after 10 o’clock this morning en route to Cologne in Germany.
There were two crew members on board at the time.
The aircraft departed Shannon at quarter past ten and soon after the flight had crossed the Irish coastline at Wexford, the crew issued a Pan-pan radio call, which indicates an ‘urgency’ on board, but is not as serious as a ‘May-day’.
It’s understood the aircraft had been in Shannon for maintenance and was repositioning to Cologne.
The flight had reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet over St George’s Channel, northwest of Fishguard in Wales, when the crew turned around.
The flight crew reported they had received a cockpit indication that alerted them to a possible issue with the aircraft’s main cargo door.
They informed air traffic controllers that the alarm indicated the cargo door was ‘unsafe,’ and the flight was cleared to turn around and descend to 9,000 feet.
At Shannon Airport, the airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted and crews were mobilised to holding points along the runway head of the jet’s arrival.
Shortly before landing, the flight crew cancelled their Pan-pan message and the flight landed safely just after 11 o’clock and was followed down the runway by airport fire crews.
Accompanied by fire vehicles, the aircraft returned to the maintenance hangar it had originally departed from.
