THE piece of wreckage found on farmland in Co Clare at the weekend is most likely part of the engine cowling of an American jet which was forced to turn back to Shannon on July 25th with engine trouble. There were 220 passengers on board.
Ms Mary Cochrane, spokeswoman for American Transair Company of Indianapolis, yesterday confirmed that the engine cover on one of its Lockheed 1011 Tristar jets came loose while the plane was flying from Shannon to New York.
The aircraft turned back to Shannon but Ms Cochrane said that "it was a non mechanical part and there was no danger to the passengers". She would not, however, speculate that the engine cover found by Mr John Clohessy 150 yards from his farmhouse at Ballinacally, beside the Shannon Estuary, on Sunday was, in fact, that which came loose from the company aircraft. The largest piece of debris measured three feet square. Smaller pieces were also found in Mr Clohessy's back yard.
A spokesperson for the Irish Aviation Authority said an inspector had examined the aircraft wreckage, which had been brought to Shannon by Aer Rianta security officers. It was identified as part of the cowling of a side engine of a Lockheed 10,11. "Our investigations are ongoing and we cannot as yet conclude as to which airline it belonged."
The company, which is described as the 10th largest in the US, has 49 aircraft which include Lougheed 1011s as well as Boeing 757s and 727s. Last May, it began a five weekly scheduled service between New York and Shannon.
Minutes after leaving Shannon Airport for New York, the pilot radioed air traffic control that he was turning back because of a rapid drop of oil pressure in Number One engine. The Tristar has two side engines and one mounted in the centre of the tail.
The passengers were accommodated overnight in four Limerick hotels. Most of them were flown out next day by Aer Lingus and 60 of them were transferred to another American Transair jet last Friday evening which arrived from Belfast via Dublin.
This is the third time in 40 years that passenger aircraft have lost cowlings while on a flight out of Shannon. One of the last piston Engined aircraft, owned by Capital Airlines, was diverted back to the airport when the engine cover flew off and a similar incident occurred in the case of one of the early British Airways jets.