A plane with 300 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Dublin airport yesterday, after it developed engine trouble half an hour out of Shannon en route to Newark, New Jersey. The plane, leased by Aer Lingus from Caledonian Airways, jettisoned fuel over the sea and made a safe landing at Dublin. Aer Lingus said last night: "The aircraft landed normally and the airport emergency services were on hand as a precaution only."
Angry passengers strongly criticised Aer Lingus last night about the "disgraceful" manner in which they were treated. Some 150 of the passengers had been trying to get out of Dublin since Wednesday but could not do so because of a technical fault to another plane.
They said they had understood they were to travel on an Aer Lingus plane, but what they got yesterday was a "clapped out old plane that had seen better days" which was "filthy inside, with paint peeling from the roof", according to some passengers.
Aer Lingus last night apologised for the inconvenience and said the passengers were given meals, transport, access to telephones and were being put up overnight in hotels.
One woman who declined to give her name said she had been two days trying to get to New York and the way they had been treated had been outrageous. "We have been given no information. We don't know what is happening."
She said they had been "amazed" at the condition of the plane, which was very old and in filthy condition inside. On the plane, they were delayed for half an hour because the captain thought they had a suitcase belonging to someone who was not on board. "We had to sit there in the plane on the tarmac in very hot conditions. The captain later announced that this had been a computer blip."
There was a long delay at Shannon and after 30 minutes flying the plane turned back "when we were told there was a problem with one of the engines", she said. Another woman said she had "spent a long time saving £4,000 for this holiday, but now it has been ruined. I booked to fly with Aer Lingus, not with a clapped out British Caledonian plane".
She said there were a lot of American passengers who were extremely angry at the situation and they said they would never again come to Ireland. "They have missed connections, lost money and some have missed important appointments."