Aer Lingus flight returns to airport after engine failure

An Aer Lingus flight was forced to return to Shannon Airport yesterday after one of the aircraft’s engines failed soon after …

An Aer Lingus flight was forced to return to Shannon Airport yesterday after one of the aircraft’s engines failed soon after take-off.

Aer Lingus regional flight EI 3606, operated by Aer Arann, had left Shannon at 3.49pm for Manchester with 46 passengers and a crew of four on board.

Shortly after 4pm, while the flight was still climbing, the pilot issued a mayday call reporting that an engine had failed. The pilot told air traffic controllers at Shannon that he was stopping his climb and wished to return to the airport and make an emergency landing.

About five minutes before the flight was due to land at Shannon, the crew confirmed they had successfully managed to restart the engine but they still wished to continue on to land. With crash crews standing by at designated locations alongside the main runway, the aircraft touched down safely at 4.21pm.