Transatlantic flight diverts to Shannon with ill passenger who later died

Pat Flynn

An ill passenger for whom a transatlantic flight diverted to Shannon Airport this afternoon was pronounced dead shortly after the aircraft landed.

Turkish Airlines flight TK-801 was travelling from Istanbul in Turkey to Bogotá, Columbia at the time and was about four hours into its journey when the crew declared a medical emergency. There were 282 passengers and crew on board.

The Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner jet was around 450 kilometres south of Cork when the crew made contact with air traffic controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Clare.

The crew issued a Pan-pan radio call declaring a medical emergency. A Pan-pan call indicates to controllers that there is an urgent situation on board an aircraft. It is less serious than a May-day distress call, however.

The crew of flight 801 informed controllers they required to divert and were cleared to reroute to the Midwest airport where emergency medical services had been placed on standby. The National Ambulance Service dispatched a rapid response advanced paramedic unit and ambulance to meet the aircraft.

The flight crew also advised controllers that they would have to dump aviation fuel to ensure they touched down within safe landing weight limits. As a result, airport fire and rescue crews were alerted and mobilised ahead of the aircraft’s arrival. This is a standard precautionary measure at Shannon for any flight that has jettisoned fuel before landing.

The flight landed safely at 1.01pm and was followed along the runway by airport fire crews who also remained with the aircraft at the terminal for a time. Fire crews inspected the jet’s undercarriage to ensure it hadn’t overheated during the emergency landing.

The aircraft was met at the terminal by airport authorities and paramedics. However, the man was pronounced dead soon after the flight landed.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that gardaí and the county coroner for Clare were notified.

A local undertaker was called to the airport to remove the passenger’s body to the mortuary at University Hospital Limerick where a post-mortem examination will be carried out.

The flight continued its journey at 3.35pm.