An Aer Lingus flight has been forced to return to Dublin Airport this afternoon after the crew reported a technical issue over the Atlantic.
Flight EI-115 left Dublin at around 1.05pm for a seven-hour flight to Philadelphia in the United States.
Less than an hour after taking off from Dublin, the crew advised air traffic controllers of their issue and requested clearance to enter a holding pattern for a time.
The crew also confirmed they had no emergency and that everything was in a ‘normal state'.
According to one source, the pilots reported they were receiving ‘erroneous fuel flow indications’ in the cockpit of the new Airbus A321-253NX jet. The jet was delivered to the airline in September and entered service in early October.
The pilots had also been in contact with their company engineers in relation to the issue and confirmed to controllers that they were waiting for directions on whether they should divert to Shannon or return to Dublin.
In the meantime, the crew was cleared to enter a holding pattern about 200 kilometres west of Co Mayo while the crew awaited instructions from the airline’s operations centre.
About thirty minutes after advising controllers of the problem, the pilots confirmed they wished to return to Dublin and were cleared to do so.
The crew had confirmed to controllers shortly before landing that they did not require emergency services on arrival. The flight landed safely back in Dublin at around 3.30pm.
There were 122 passengers and a crew of six on board.
An Aer Lingus spokesman said: “Aer Lingus flight EI115 (Dublin to Philadelphia ) was required to turn back due to a technical issue.
"The aircraft landed safely at Dublin Airport and all guests and crew will remain on board while the necessary maintenance checks are carried out by our team on the ground.
"We will continue to keep our guests updated while we work to get the aircraft serviceable.
"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to our guests."
