A Virgin Atlantic flight bound for Jamaica was forced to divert to Ireland on Saturday after experiencing an engine failure while crossing the North Atlantic.

The airline’s VS165 service, operated by an Airbus A330-900neo, departed London Heathrow on Saturday afternoon with 246 passengers and 13 crew members on board for Montego Bay. The flight was proceeding normally at a cruising altitude of 34,000 feet when the crew detected a problem with one of the aircraft’s engines nearly three hours into the journey.

According to the St Vincent Times, the pilots shut down the affected right-hand Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engine as a precaution and continued operating on a single engine. The aircraft subsequently descended to 20,000 feet before turning back towards Europe.

Air traffic controllers directed the aircraft to Shannon Airport in western Ireland, a key diversion airport for transatlantic flights. Emergency services, including airport fire crews, ambulance personnel, police and local fire units, were mobilised ahead of the aircraft’s arrival, the report said.

The St Vincent Times reported that the aircraft landed safely at Shannon Airport at approximately 9:24 pm local time, around five hours after departing London. Emergency vehicles accompanied the aircraft on landing, but inspections confirmed there was no fire or other immediate danger.

All 246 passengers and 13 crew members disembarked safely and no injuries were reported.

Virgin Atlantic is reportedly making arrangements for a replacement aircraft to transport passengers to Montego Bay, while engineers investigate the cause of the engine malfunction on the aircraft, registered G-VTOM.