http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/Irish-Air-Corps-forced-to.6603753.jp--------------------------------------
Irish Air Corps forced to land at City of Derry
Published Date: 28 October 2010
By Staff Reporter
AN Irish Air Corps plane was forced to make an emergency landing at City of Derry airport this aftenoon, Thursday, October 28, after a warning light was activated in the aircraft's cockpit 150 miles off the west coast.
The aircraft was making a routine maritime patrol when it had to be diverted. One of its two engines was shut down before a controlled emergency landing at Eglinton. It follows a similar emergency landing involving the same CASA aeroplane last week.
The Irish Defence Forces confirmed that all six crew members were safe and well following the incident. A spokesperson for City of Derry Airport said that the plane made the precautionary landing after experiencing technical difficulties while on a Fisheries Patrol.
A spokesperson for the Irish Defence Forces said the aircraft was on a routine maritime patrol approximately 150 miles off the West Coast when a warning light activated in the cockpit at approximately 11.10am.
The aircraft touched down at 1.34pm.
An Air Corps technical team travelled from Baldonnel to Londonderry to examine the aircraft.
A previous precautionary emergency landing was carried out by this aircraft at Kerry Airport, Farranfore on October 22, 2010 due to an electrical fault associated with the pneumatic system.
Maritime patrols are carried out in cooperation with the Naval Service and the Department of the Marine to safeguard Ireland's maritime interests.
The Irish Air Corps currently operates two Casa CN 235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
These aircraft entered service in 1994 and operate seven days a week usually in the off shore maritime patrol arena.
The planes' crew work in close conjunction with the Naval Service, providing an aerial platform for patrolling the Irish Economic Zone, an area of approximately 132,000 square miles or 16 per cent of the total EU sea fisheries.
