The plane landed safely at 3pm.

A US military aerial refuelling aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Saturday afternoon, due to an an engine fault. It's understood that a problem, which arose with one of the US Air Force McDonnell Douglas KC-10's's engines, was noticed by staff as the aircraft flew over the Atlantic. An emergency was declared by the crew of nine on-board who had shut down one of the jet's three engines. Five units of the fire brigade from Shannon Town were sent to the scene in support of the airport's own Fire and Rescue Service. Two units of Ennis Fire Service were also mobilised to the incident while the National Ambulance Service and Gardaí also sent resources to the airport. The flight landed safely at 3pm and was met by airport and local authority fire crews who accompanied the jet to a remote parking stand. Engineers also stood by on the tarmac to inspect the engine and determine whether any damage had been caused to the plane. A consequential inspection of the aircraft was conducted upon landing, discovering that a panel was missing from the jet's left engine. The aircraft is attached to the 305th Maintenance Squadron based at McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey in the US. Just last month, a Boeing 767 travelling from London to Newark was forced to make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport. There was 216 crew and passengers were on board, and the aircraft landed safely.