Pilots don oxygen masks and return to Dublin over smoke in cockpit

The pilots of a passenger jet had to don oxygen masks and return to Dublin Airport for an emergency landing yesterday after smoke was detected in the cockpit.

Iberia Express flight IB-3793 departed Dublin at around 11.30am and was bound for Madrid in Spain.

Just minutes after taking off, the crew advised air traffic controllers they had an issue which they wished to investigate.

Soon afterwards, the pilot issued a ‘Pan Pan’ radio distress message confirming they wanted to make an “immediate return” to Dublin.

The pilot reported there was smoke in the cockpit and that they had donned their emergency oxygen masks. The crew did not report any smoke in the passenger cabin.

The Airbus A320-200 jet was routing south over Wicklow when the crew stopped their climb at 18,000ft before turning around west of Arklow and descending again towards Dublin.

Emergency crews at the airport were alerted and mobilised to designated points adjacent to the runway ahead of the flight’s return.

A number of other inbound flights were told to break off their approaches and were placed in holding patterns until the incident aircraft had landed safely.

The flight landed safely shortly before midday and was met by airport emergency services who carried out a visual inspection of the plane’s exterior.

The pilot told controllers that he believed the smoke may have come from one of the aircraft’s engines, however fire crews found no indication of fire or smoke.

The aircraft was able to taxi to the terminal where fire crews carried out a further inspection of the aircraft in an effort to determine the source of the smoke. It is understood that no fire was found.