Updated at 9.48pm
A JET PLANE carrying Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy from Dublin to Madrid was forced to make an emergency landing just moments after take off.
The Spanish air force Falcon plane “returned as a precaution” to Dublin, a spokeswoman for the Spanish government said.
Rajoy resumed his trip to Madrid after the plane was checked and given the all clear, she said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny called Rajoy to ask about the problem with the plane, the spokeswoman said.
The plane, a Falcon 900 jet, is capable of carrying up to 19 passengers and two crew members.
Rajoy was in Dublin for a congress of the European People’s Party which picked former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker as their candidate to be the next European Commission president.
Helicopter crash
He was onboard a helicopter that crashed after taking off from a bullring outside Madrid in December 2005 but walked away with a broken finger.
In January another Spanish air force plane carrying Crown Prince Felipe from Santo Domingo to Tegucigalpa in Honduras was forced to return to the capital of the Dominican Republic after a warning light came on.
In November 2013 his departure to Brazil from Madrid was delayed after the Airbus 310 plane which he was scheduled to take suffered technical problems.
Catch up with everything from the EPP Congress here.
Originally published 6.12pm. Additional reporting by Nicky Ryan.
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