A full-scale emergency was declared at Shannon Airport last evening when an American-owned Continental Airlines DC-10 was diverted because of a suspected fire in one of its three engines, writes Arthur Quinlan. The aircraft, which was 800 miles west of Ireland at the time, made a perfect landing at 6.40 p.m. Six airport and four local authority fire engines stood by.
The aircraft, with 254 passengers and crew, was on a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, to JFK, New York, when the pilot noticed the fire warning signal. It did not appear on preliminary examinations that a fire had taken place.