Ryanair aircraft forced to return to Dublin

A Ryanair aircraft was forced to return to Dublin Airport yesterday after it experienced an engine problem en route to London.

In a separate incident, more than 100 passengers on a Ryanair flight from Paris to Dublin were stranded at Beauvais Airport overnight on Wednesday when the plane was found to have "technical difficulties". They eventually flew out yesterday 18 hours late.

The London-bound flight, the 6.55 a.m. to Stansted, had been in the air for about 15 minutes when passengers heard a loud bang. They were told the plane was experiencing technical problems and would have to return to Dublin Airport. It landed just after 7.30 a.m.

A Ryanair spokeswoman said the decision to return to Dublin was "purely precautionary" and the Boeing 737 had made a "normal approach". It was inspected by engineers, while passengers were placed on the next available flight, she added.

However, an Aer Rianta spokeswoman described the incident as a category two emergency - less serious than a distress call but more serious than an alert. The emergency services were on standby when the plane landed.

In Beauvais, passengers complained of being stranded without food or accommodation when Wednesday's 5.55 p.m. flight was delayed and then cancelled.

One woman told The Irish Times it was 3 a.m. before passengers were told the flight would not leave until morning and that accommodation could be arranged at passengers' own expense. Most decided to sleep in the airport.

The Ryanair spokeswoman said the company did not compensate passengers for expenses incurred because of "technical problems".

The flight had been cancelled and passengers accommodated on the next available service to Dublin, she said.