Transatlantic flight from London closes airport after emergency landing

PA

A flight from London to Boston was forced to make an emergency landing at Dublin Airport after the pilot reported nose steering problems.

Dublin Airport was closed for almost an hour after the jet blocked both runways after making its emergency landing.

Hospitals in the area were placed on alert. Seven units of Dublin Fire Brigade were mobilised in support of the airport's own fire crews.

American Airlines flight AAL-155, which had 172 passengers and crew on board, came to a stop at the intersection of Dublin's two runways leaving dozens of planes circling over the Irish Sea.

The Irish Independent reports that more than 40 flights were affected with as many as 15 aircraft being forced to divert to other airports.

The was travelling from London to Boston and was about 400km west of Ireland when the crew reported a problem.

The pilot told controllers that he wished to turn around and divert to Dublin Airport reporting technical issues with the Boeing 757-200 plane's nose-wheel steering.

No one was injured, and the airport was able to reopen after an hour.

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