A MAJOR safety alert involving the aircraft carrying President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; ended safely at Shannon airport early this morning.
Three minutes after taking off from Shannon en route to Harare, the pilot noticed a warning light indicating a fire in one of the engines. "We could see out through the window on the right hand side that there appeared to be a fire in number three engine," said Mr George Charamba, the Zimbabwe government's director of information. "But it was quickly brought under control by the crew, who shut off the engine."
Mr Mugabe had been in Ireland to attend The Irish Times/Harvard University Colloquium at University College Dublin earlier last night. He took off from Dublin Airport at 9.15 pm. in an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 707, and arrived at Shannon for a refuelling stop at 9.40 p.m. The presidential party of 37 took off for Harare at 10.47 p.m.
Shannon watch tower received notification at 10.50 p.m. that a problem had developed on the aircraft. It returned to Shannon, where observers said it made three approaches before landing at three minutes after midnight.
Mr Charamba said: "The president took the matter very calmly, and neither he nor his wife, Grace, were in the least bit upset."
Some reports spoke of the plane having trouble getting its undercarriage to descend as it returned to Shannon. But Mr Charamba explained that the plane had circled for some time in order to shed aviation fuel it had taken on earlier.
A spokesman for Shannon Repair Service said the damaged engine would probably have to be replaced. "There was definitely a fire," he said. "There was considerable damage to the engine." He said a Boeing 767 from Zimbabwe would arrive today to take Mr Mugabe and his party home.
Mr Mugabe spent last night at the Dromoland Castle hotel, about eight miles from Shannon. Other passengers were taken to hotels in Limerick. The Air Zimbabwe plane is believed to be more than 20 years old.