Private jet diverts to Shannon Airport amid fuel leak scare

A private jet was forced to turn around over the North Atlantic and divert to Shannon Airport this morning after the crew reported a possible fuel leak.

The Bombardier Challenger 605, operated by an international aircraft charter company, had departed from Bournemouth Airport in England at around 9.00am today. It’s not clear however many people were on board. The flight was routing to Bangor, Maine in the United States.

GainJet flight 68 was about two hours into its journey and an hour west of Ireland when the crew turned back. It’s understood the pilots received an indication in the cockpit that suggested they might be losing fuel. The crew did not declare an emergency at the time however.

Shortly after midday the crew made contact with air traffic controllers in Ireland and advised them that they wished to return to Bournemouth Airport. A short time later however, the pilot requested to divert instead to Shannon Airport and was cleared to do so.

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Authorities at Shannon were notified of the unscheduled arrival while the airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted and placed on standby as a precaution. Shortly before landing, the flight crew confirmed again that they were not declaring an emergency and that operations were normal. They were advised that the fire service would be standing by as a precaution.

Fire crews were deployed to taxiways adjacent to the runway ahead of the jet’s arrival. The aircraft landed safely at 1.39pm and was pursued along the runway by airport emergency vehicles which also accompanied the jet to a remote parking position where fire crews searched for any evidence of a fuel leak.

In the meantime, an inspection of the runway was carried out to ensure it hadn’t be contaminated before any flights could land and take off. It’s understood that no indication of a fuel leak was found. Operations at Shannon were not affected by the diversion.

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