A transatlantic jet was forced to divert to Shannon Airport on Sunday after a ‘suspicious’ phone was found on board.
Air France flight AF-136 was travelling from Paris, France to Chicago in the U.S. and was about 250 kilometres off the north-west coast of Ireland when the pilot advised air traffic controllers that they wished to divert to Shannon Airport for “security reasons.”
The flight had taken off from Charles De Gaulle Airport shortly after 2.00pm Irish time and was almost two hours into its journey when the crew turned around.
At the time, the crew had been in contact with controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare.
The flight was cleared to turn around and divert to Shannon where airport authorities and An Garda Síochána had been alerted to the situation.
In the meantime, the crew descended to 6,000 feet where they were able to burn off aviation fuel to ensure they touched down within safe landing weight limits.
It’s understood that a mobile phone was found on board the aircraft and that efforts to identify an owner were unsuccessful.
A number of announcements were made over the intercom system and when no one came forward to claim the phone, the crew opted to divert to Shannon.
The flight landed safely at 4.41pm and was pursued along the runway by airport fire crews who were mobilised as a precaution as the aircraft had made and overweight landing.
The Airbus A330-200 jet was directed to a remote taxiway where airport police officers and Gardaí were waiting to meet the aircraft.
A number of uniformed Gardaí and plain-clothes members were dispatched to the airport.
It’s understood the phone was removed from the jet and handed over the Gardaí who are expected to attempt to identify the owner.
The passengers did not disembark from the flight.
The jet was later moved to the terminal building where it was refuelled before continuing its journey to Chicago.
In a statement, gardai said: "At approximately 4.50pm an Air France flight travelling from Paris to Chicago diverted to Shannon Airport due to a security matter.
"Flight crew had concerns about a mobile phone device found on board that was unaccounted for.
"The mobile device was taken from the plane (an Airbus A330) by Gardaí for examination and plane has since continued on its journey.
"Gardaí are now satisfied that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the matter."
