A US military transport plane made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Thursday evening following a suspected fuel leak over the Atlantic.
The United States Navy C130H Hercules aircraft was about 300 kilometres west of Ireland when the crew declared an emergency and requested permission to route back to Shannon.
The airport’s emergency plan was put into action with the local authority fire brigade from Shannon Town and Ennis along with the HSE ambulance service were alerted.
The flight touched down safely at 4.53pm and parked up on a remote taxiway. The crew confirmed after landing that the fuel leak had stopped.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.