Aer Lingus flight EI110 makes emergency landing in JFK

An Aer Lingus flight to Shannon diverted to New York's John F Kennedy airport after it experienced hydraulic issues shortly after take-off on Monday night.

The Boeing 757-200 returned safely at the New York airport after its take-off at 7.15pm. The aircraft, which was due to land at Shannon airport at 6am on Tuesday, was carrying 115 passengers and crew, all of whom were uninjured.

The crew first reported a problem about 70km east of the airport.

The flight had been handed over to controllers at Boston when the crew confirmed they had a technical issue that they wished to deal with. The Boeing jet was cleared to stop climbing and level off so the crew could investigate the problem.

A short time later the crew confirmed that one of the jet’s hydraulic systems was inoperable as a result of a hydraulic fluid leak and that they would have to return to New York.

The crew informed controllers that they would require to enter a holding pattern for about 30 minutes stating they had “quite a long checklist to work through.”

Flight 110 turned around and headed towards the northern end of Long Island where it circled over a nature reserve for about 20 minutes before commencing its approach to JFK.

The failed hydraulic system also had an effect on the aircraft’s flaps systems so the jet had to land faster than usual. The pilot also told controllers they would be landing with 23.1 tonnes of fuel (23,100kgs) in the tanks but that this was within safe landing-weight limits.

Asked if he was declaring an emergency the pilot said ‘no’ but the crew did confirm they wanted emergency services ‘on standby’.

After a safe landing, the jet was surrounded by emergency vehicles. Both main landing gear were found to be smoking as a result of leaking hydraulic fluid that was ignited by the warm breaks.

Fire crews also confirmed that there was a small fire in one of the landing gear but this was quickly brought under control.

The pilot confirmed he suspected the fire resulted from the leaking fluid igniting but that all readings in the cockpit were normal.

"It just looked like a sci-fi movie. The actual touchdown itself was pretty bumpy, but not out of control considering, he did an excellent job. Right away we could see there were maybe 15 or 20 fire trucks right on the runway immediately, ready to drive up, and they started spraying us like almost immediately," said passenger Patrick Dyer Wolf.

“And while they were still spraying the plane, the pilot came out into the cabin and made another announcement and explained what happened. He said that one of the hydraulic tanks had been leaking hydraulic fluid, and it started as a slow leak and then eventually drained to empty.”

Separately, an American Airlines flight from Dublin to Chigago had to be diverted to London. A spokeswoman confirmed the flight landed at Heathrow on Tuesday afternoon and “everything is fine”.