A Swiss International Airlines aeroplane flying to New York had to circle in the sky for five hours after a technical problem occurred shortly after take-off from Zurich on Friday evening.

The Airbus A330 flying to Newark airport had to turn back after a “technical abnormality in the left engine”, a SWISSExternal link spokesman told Swiss media on Friday evening. The machine was too heavy to land straightaway because it had full fuel tanks, he explained. As this type of plane could not drain fuel mid-air, the right amount of kerosene had to be used up before landing.

The plane, which left at circa 9pm, then landed at circa 2am, having been given special permission by Zurich airport.External link Normally no flights are allowed to land or take off between 11pm and 6am.

There was not any danger at any time to the 220 passengers and 12 crew onboard, the spokesman said. The passengers were offered a hotel and their journey should continue on Saturday, he added.

Rare

Such incidents are extremely rare, added the company. It has 90 planes and it operates more than 400 flights a day. Some 17 million passengers use its services each year.

The previous Friday, March 23, had also seen a change of plan for a flight from Switzerland to the US. An American Airlines flight from Zurich to Philadelphia had to be make a stop in London due to an emergency.

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