A transatlantic cargo jet made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport this morning, after the crew reported a possible fire on board.
The Cargolux Boeing 747-400 jet, which was travelling from Miami in the US to Amsterdam in the Netherlands at the time. There were three crew on board.
The flight crew declared a Mayday emergency and advised air traffic controllers that they had a fire alarm on the main deck but they were unable to conduct a visual inspection to confirm whether there was actually a fire on board.
The airport’s own fire and rescue service was alerted and mobilised while units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations; ambulance paramedics and Gardaí were all dispatched to the airport. The Irish Coast Guard placed the Kilrush RNLI lifeboat on ‘immediate readiness’ at its Cappagh base as a precaution.
The flight landed safely at 5.52am.
When the crew confirmed there was no fire, they taxied their aircraft to the terminal building still accompanied by emergency crews. Airport fire crews then carried out their own external and internal visual investigations to ensure there was no evidence of a fire.
The cockpit indication appears to have been a false alarm.
This morning’s incident was the second this month involving an aircraft operated by the same cargo carrier.
