An Aer Lingus flight bound for Los Angeles was forced to divert to Shannon, Ireland after one engine shut down during takeoff.
EI145, an A330-200 traveling from Dublin to Los Angeles, departed Dublin on-schedule at 3:25p from Dublin. But the flight deck reported an “engine fire” warning light and visually confirmed smoking pouring out of the engine two (starboard / right side).
Immediate clearance was granted to land in Shannon and the aircraft descended to 3,000 feet, but circled for 30 minutes to dump fuel. When the aircraft reached safe landing weight limits, the pilots initiated final descent and landed safety at 4:36p. Fire crews met the aircraft on the runway, but the aircraft was deemed safe enough to taxi to a jet bridge.
The full flight featured 267 passengers and a 11 crew members on board.
Aer Lingus issued the following statement:
Aer Lingus flight EI145 departed Dublin today at 15:39 (local time) en route to Los Angeles with 267 passengers and 11 crew on board.
The flight diverted to Shannon Airport due to a technical fault with the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely at Shannon at 16:36 (local time).
Emergency services were in attendance as a precaution. Passengers will be brought to Los Angeles on the next available flight.
Passengers Were Always Safe
I almost wrote the story in the following way–
One engine blew out on an an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Los Angeles. The flight diverted to Shannon. Everyone was fine. It was no big deal. The end.
Indeed, it was no big deal and that is actually why I am writing about it. Many still have a fear about flying and particularly about engine failure. This incident nicely demonstrates how safe airline travel is. If an engine blows out, the other engine + pilot precision will get passengers to safe harbor. This was yet another textbook example.
While crashes still do occur from time to time, we truly live in a golden era of safety when it comes to commercial air travel. I would have been far more comfortable with an engine failure on an A330-200 than on my own car while driving.
> Read More: Aer Lingus A330-200 Business Class Review (Dublin to Boston)
When you say “dump fuel,” does that literally mean the plane empties jet fuel over whatever is beneath? Does the pilot try to go over empty land or water? Have there ever been issues with dumping fuel over a residential area? Even if it was over vacant land, someone ones it, and I would think there would be environmental insurance implications.
*owns it
Kevin, the fuel dissipates in the atmosphere before reaching the ground. I imagine there’s environmental implications, but not to the ground directly below.
Many engine blade failures in last seven years or so. This could be another. A couple were close to catastrophic not contained but ejections luckily missing fuselage. GE and Rolls Royce seem to be the worst. Jet engine manufacturers should review expertise in other industries such as tech papers searching “Texas A&M Turbomachinery Symposium”
The airlines do not purchase environmental insurance, they are self-insured for those losses. Regarding dumping of fuel, it all depends on how low they are when dumping. Depending on emergency they may be dumping until short final so at that point it will land on cars, homes, etc.
I was on that flight and while the flight crew did an excellent job, I do have to say that initially the pilot scared the crap outta people with his announcement. Furthermore, most the people have no idea how close they actually came in this particular case – evident upon reading articles about it later. I personally saw black smoke coming from the #2 engine which I was sitting right behind just before takeoff. I question whether that flight should’ve taken off in the first place. Aer Lingus have had a few incidents recently which one might want to check out. We may have been very fortunate on that flight and lucky that the crew didn’t evacuate in the way an emergency landing in Cork had done the month before. Don’t make light of what actually happened and how it effected the passengers and family. Aer Lingus have had a few too many emergencies lately and perhaps that has something to do with how well they’re maintaining their fleet which I believe is reported to be the oldest of European fleets. It may demonstrate how safe this flight was after landing but there was a real element of danger which was evident by the pilots announcement – the flight were amazing in how they quelled the fears of passengers who were generally very very calm. Were you on that flight? I have video from inside the cabin. Lets call a spade a spade.