More than 200 passengers on a direct flight from Chicago to Paris had an enforced 61/2-hour stopover at Shannon Airport yesterday. A malfunctioning alarm system had indicated there was a fire in the baggage section of the Boeing 747.
The Air France jet was off the Clare coast just before 9 a.m. when the pilot radioed Shannon requesting permission to make an emergency landing. When it landed 30 minutes later, five fire engines were at the runway.
The aircraft was escorted to an isolated runway, but when firemen wearing breathing apparatus and maintenance engineers opened the lower hatches, there was no evidence of fire.