An Aer Lingus Airbus A330 bound for Boston Logan Airport (BOS) found itself making two landings at Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Connecticut. The first time the flight encountered severe weather, and the second time it suffered an engine fire, necessitating a second unplanned landing.

Bad timing

As spotted by Aerotime, Aer Lingus flight EI133 on Tuesday, 9th August, ended up making an unexpected landing 115 miles from its destination, twice. The flight started off rocky, departing Dublin Airport at 13:35 local time, a full two hours after its planned departure. From there, it was smooth sailing over the Atlantic, with the A330-300 nearing the East Coast at around 14:40 local time.

However, air traffic control in Boston was forced to divert the flight to nearby Bradley International Airport due to severe weather in the area. The flight landed in BDL at 15:41 local time and waited there until it could carry on to BOS. EI133 took off once more an hour later, at 16:54 local time. But things weren't set to go to plan. Again.

Minutes into the flight, the right engine suffered a compressor stall, with the crew quickly getting stall messages, according to the Aviation Herald. Outside, residents captured images of the low-flying aircraft's engine on fire, with EI-133 quickly declaring an emergency and landing back at BDL at 17:05.

In a statement, an Aer Lingus spokesperson said,

"While continuing its journey from Bradley to Boston the aircraft suffered a technical issue and was required to turn back shortly after take-off. The aircraft, with 309 customers on board, landed safely at Bradley airport at 17:27 local time, and as per normal procedures was met by emergency services as a precaution upon arrival. All customers and crew disembarked safely."

Still on the ground

Aer Lingus' chaotic Tuesday flight was flown by an Airbus A330-300, registered EI-FNG. The aircraft was delivered new to the Irish carrier in August 2016, putting it at six years old. At the time of writing, the aircraft remains on the ground in BDL, likely pending a check by maintenance teams and potentially a whole new engine before it can make its way back to service in Dublin. The aircraft is powered by two General Electric CF6 engines.

The aircraft is capable of seating 317 passengers in total, making Aer Lingus' Tuesday load of 309 customers particularly impressive. With summer holidays in full swing, Europe-US flights have been in high demand, despite challenges across the aviation industry with staffing shortages.

While Tuesday's engine issue is relatively rare, the US has well-laid procedures to deal with inclement weather, mainly through ground stops and diversion. Following four hours of delays on the flight, all passengers on EI133 will be glad to be on the ground again.