Cargo door issue forces plane to return to Shannon Airport

Pat Flynn

A cargo aircraft was forced to return to Shannon Airport on Thursday morning after the crew declared an emergency, reporting a technical issue off the Irish Coast.

The Star Air Boeing 767-219 cargo jet, operating as flight SRR-9232, left Shannon at around 10:15am en route to Cologne in Germany.

It is understood that the aircraft had been in Shannon for maintenance and was positioning to Cologne at the time. There were two crew members on board.

Soon after the flight had crossed the Wexford coast, the crew issued a Pan-pan radio call. A ‘Pan-pan’ indicates an ‘urgency’ on board but is not as serious as a ‘May-day’.

The flight had reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet over St George’s Channel, northwest of Fishguard in Wales when the crew made a U-turn.

The flight crew reported they had received a cockpit indication that alerted them to a possible issue with the aircraft’s main cargo door.

The crew told air traffic controllers that the alarm indicated the cargo door was ‘unsafe.’ The flight was cleared to turn around and descend to 9,000 feet.

At Shannon, 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 confirm that all operations were 'normal'.

The flight landed safely at 11:09am 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.