AN AER LINGUS flight from Dublin airport was reportedly forced to turn back shortly after departing for Lanzarote because of reports of an unusual 'smell' on board.
Flight EI-776 departed at around 7:30am and was around 30 minutes into its flight when crew members informed air traffic control that they would have to turn back and return to the Irish capital, according to the Irish Mirror.
Flight attendants had detected a strange smell in the cabin and while no passengers seemed to have been affected by the odour, crew members were reportedly experiencing "itchy and watery eyes."
The smell in question went undiagnosed but the pilots believed it may have originated from the plane's air conditioning system.
In any case, a decision to turn around while flying over the Celtic Sea, around 100km south of Cork, was taken as a precaution so that they could investigate the issue, however the crew didn't want to declare an emergency and insisted they wouldn't need any assistance upon arrival.
The flight landed back at Dublin Airport just after 9am and they were met at the terminal by paramedics and engineers.
Passangers disembarked and were given meal vouchers while they waited for a replacement flight to be sorted.
An airline spokesperson said: "Aer Lingus flight EI776 from Dublin to Lanzarote departed Dublin at 07:28 local time and was required to turn back shortly after take-off due to a technical issue. The aircraft landed safely at Dublin Airport at 09:06.”
