AER LINGUS passengers on a flight from Boston to Shannon and Dublin were delayed for 24 hours after their Airbus 330 experienced an engine problem shortly after take off on Wednesday night.
Passengers heard a bang and some saw a flame from the left hand engine but the plane landed safely. "Reports of an emergency landing were wrong," Mr Donal Foley, general manager of technical operations with Aer Lingus, said yesterday.
Mr Foley, who is an Airbus 330 pilot, said the engine experienced a surge" shortly after take off, which interferes with the air flow through the engine. "These experiences are always worrying for passengers when they happen but there was no emergency, no drama." Captain Paddy Morrissey, who was in charge of the flight, decided to return to Boston, "because in our business, safety is the name of the game".
The aircraft, which can carry 319 passengers, was nearly full. The 281 passengers were put up in hotels and were due to leave Boston on an Aer Lingus flight at 6 p.m. (local time), arriving in Shannon at 4.35 a.m. (local time) and Dublin 06.35 a.m. this morning.
Aer Lingus leased a Boeing 767 yesterday from an Italian airline to operate the outward flight from Dublin and Shannon to Boston. This flight was scheduled to take off at 11 a.m. but did not leave Dublin until 5 p.m.
Mr Foley said he first heard a report of the incident on the radio at 6 a.m. yesterday. "Even as a pilot, the report frightened me," according to Mr Foley. On checking with Captain Morrissey, Mr Foley said it became clear that the incident was not a serious one and had been blown out of proportion.
Mr Foley said they may have been some nervousness at Boston's Logan International Airport because of a genuine emergency the previous day. Then, according to Mr Foley, a Boeing 767 belonging to the Dutch airline Martinair had made an emergency landing in which it blocked the main runway. Mr Foley speculated that the early reports of the Aer Lingus incident may, have been coloured by Tuesday's experience.
Aer Lingus has four Airbus330s in its transatlantic fleet, which serve New York, Boston and Chicago from Dublin, Belfast and Shannon. The Airbus 330 last year replaced the Boeing 7475 which had been in service for nearly 25 years. The Airbus is a twin engined plane, unlike the 747 which has four. Aer Lingus was the first airline to introduce the Airbus 330 on the Atlantic.