AN ELABORATE security operation was mounted at Shannon airport yesterday as contingency plans were put in place for a possible landing for refuelling of Air Force One carrying US president George Bush.
Mr Bush was returning to Washington from a Nato summit in Bucharest and a last minute visit to Russian president Vladimir Putin's holiday retreat in Sochi on the Black Sea.
However, for the second time in recent years, the president failed to show. The presidential jet overflew Shannon while a second support aircraft, believed to have been carrying senior US officials, did make a technical stop at the mid-west airport. The Boeing 757 continued its journey an hour later.
Anti-war protesters had been on alert to mount pickets in the area had the president's plane landed.
Security around the airport was tight from early morning with over 200 personnel from the Garda, Army and Air Corps drafted in ahead of the arrival of the presidential jet, although it had never been confirmed to gardaí or the authorities at Shannon that Mr Bush would definitely land there.
Gardaí were posted at locations around the airport while all access roads to the aerodrome were closely monitored.
Checkpoints were also mounted in the area while Airport Police officers patrolled the perimeter fence and an Air Corps helicopter carried out aerial patrols.
It is known that US Secret Service personnel were in Shannon for up to a week carrying out sweeps of the airport and its environs in an effort to identify any potential security risks.
Garda sources had said that while there had been no solid confirmation that the presidential jet would land at Shannon, "we were prepared in the event that it did." The security operation was stood down shortly after 3pm following confirmation that Air Force One would not be landing at Shannon. The high cost of the Garda overtime and accommodation was being estimated last night.
Meanwhile, a British Airways Jumbo jet which was forced to make an emergency landing at Shannon on Saturday continued its journey yesterday after engineers gave the plane the all clear.
British Airways flight 287, a Boeing 747-400 series jet, was en route from London Heathrow to San Francisco, California, when the pilot reported a technical problem with the jets hydraulic systems. British Airways confirmed that the pilot diverted to Shannon as a precautionary measure.
The airline also stated that the plane suffered a "temporary hydraulic indication defect".