Passengers relieved after airplane ordeal

“I was praying that God would take me and not my child,” said American dentist Mathew Brennan, after an electrical fire broke out in an US Airways Boeing 767 jet which made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport yesterday.

Flight 306 with 190 passengers and 10 crew aboard was on route from Philadelphia to Dublin when a major electrical fire broke out in the front cargo hold of the aircraft. At the time the flight was 400 miles west of Shannon Airport.

Fire brigade units from Shannon and Ennis and ambulances from Limerick and Ennis were on the runway after a full-scale emergency was mounted for the stricken jet. Fortunately, the aircraft touched down safely at 10.59am.

Mr Brennan, who was travelling to Dublin with his wife and baby daughter, described his experience on board the flight as “frightening, traumatic and fearful for their lives”.

“When we saw the flight manuals coming out, it wasn’t good,” he said.

“They all gathered at the front of the aircraft and asked for any military or fire fighting personnel on board to come forward to help in the emergency.

“I am thankful my wife, my daughter and myself are alive. It was a roller-coaster of emotion for all of us on the aircraft.

“The captain and crew tried to calm us down by telling us they thought they had the fire under control. Initially, they said they did not know where the fire was coming from, which was scary, and then there was smoke in the cabin and we had to go down to 10,000 feet to clear the cabin. And then when they asked for military personnel, fire fighters and emergency personnel on board the flight to help out, there was a fairly panicky situation at that point,” said Mr Brennan.

While there was no real panic among the passengers, there were “a lot of tears, a lot of anxiety, and a lot praying among the passengers.”

Mr Brennan was with his wife Treacy and their eight-month-old daughter, Grace. “It was my first scare on a flight. Everybody seemed to be calm,” she said.

Vaughyn Moore, aged 32, from Chicago said most of the children on the flight were scared.

“There were definitely tears and prayers, but no panic among the passengers. Honestly, we thought we were going into the water. We did not know where we were going to land,” he added.

Before the jet touched down at Shannon coastguard units and vessels at sea were also alerted by Shannon Coastguard radio. A helicopter was also on standby.

Aer Rianta officials described yesterday’s emergency as the most serious one declared at Shannon since the Futura flight incident in December 2000 when the nose-wheel collapsed as the plane was landing and eight people were injured.

“It was a major emergency and we are delighted the aircraft landed safely and the passengers are fine,” said an Aer Rianta spokeswoman.