U.S.-bound passengers stranded after flight makes emergency landing

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Dozens of individuals had been stranded in Europe for a second night time on Saturday after their U.S.-bound flight made an emergency touchdown in Dublin following an engine failure, passengers stated.

Brussels Airways flight 101 was en route from Brussels to New York on Friday when pilots issued a “pan-pan” message, which signifies an pressing however manageable drawback, much less severe than a “mayday,” when flying west at 37,000 toes over the Celtic Sea, aviation media and monitoring web sites stated.

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Pilots of the 12-year-old Airbus A330-300 requested to divert to Shannon in western Eire however switched to Dublin on directions from the airline, in line with Aviation Herald, an impartial web site which tracks airplane incidents.

Lufthansa unit Brussels Airways didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Passengers praised the crew however stated that they had been put up in resorts in Dublin earlier than being flown to Paris on Saturday, the place many had been then unable to get on overcrowded flights to New York days earlier than Thanksgiving in america.

They included 18-year-old Maja Schmidt from Germany who was heading to New York to work as an au pair.

“They didn’t have something vegetarian so I ate bread and a cookie,” she instructed Reuters by way of cell phone.

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Additionally on board was 22-year-old Oliver Sommerburg from close to Hamburg, Germany, taking solely the second flight of his life.

“It was loopy, I don’t know what’s happening. They don’t inform us something,” he stated.

Bernard Vidick, a Belgian judicial officer, stated he had been refused a connecting flight in Paris as a result of the airplane bringing stranded passengers from Dublin had additionally been delayed.

“This implies we’re blocked in Paris whereas we needs to be in New York. We’re losing two of the few trip days we’ve,” he instructed Reuters.

Carriers serving america are bracing for congestion and delays subsequent week because the Thanksgiving vacation overlaps with airline labor shortages. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Modifying by Jane Merriman)