Three medical diversions to Shannon Airport in less than 17 hours

Pat Flynn

Three transatlantic flights were diverted to Shannon Airport in a 17-hour period on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Two of the unscheduled landings occurred on Thursday morning, with Shannon being the only fully operational airport in Ireland on Christmas Day each year.

Early on Christmas morning, Delta Air Lines flight DL-224 was travelling to Paris after departing Boston at around 1:50am (Irish time).

While the flight was more than an hour off the west of Ireland, the crew declared a medical emergency and requested clearance to divert.

Authorities at Shannon Airport were advised of the unscheduled arrival while ground handling crews were also notified.

The National Ambulance Service was contacted and requested to mobilise resources to the airport.

The flight landed at 7:33am and was met at the terminal by ambulance paramedics.

A passenger was removed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) for treatment. The flight continued to Paris at around 10:15am.

Later, an American Airlines flight from the US to London diverted to Shannon Airport after the crew also declared a medical emergency.

Flight AA-174 departed Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina at around 2:10am (Irish time) bound for Heathrow in London.

The crew advised air traffic controllers here that they had an ill passenger on board and needed to divert and seek medical assistance.

The National Ambulance Service was contacted and requested to dispatch resources to Shannon.

The Boeing 777-223(ER) jet landed safely at 8:39am and was met at the airport terminal by ambulance paramedics. The patient was removed to UHL by ambulance for treatment. The flight has since continued onto Heathrow.

On Christmas Eve, a flight from France to the United States diverted to Shannon after the crew declared a medical emergency.

Air France flight AF-334 was travelling from Paris to Boston and was about 200 kilometres off the Irish south coast when the crew contacted air traffic controllers at Shannon and advised them of their request to divert.

The Airbus A350-941 jet rerouted to Shannon where it landed shortly before 4pm.

The Shannon Airport’s fire and rescue service was alerted and mobilised to holding positions adjacent to the runway ahead of the aircraft’s arrival.

This is standard procedure at Shannon for any aircraft that has dumped fuel or has to make an overweight landing.

Fire crews accompanied the aircraft to the terminal where airport authorities and ambulance paramedics were standing by.

The passenger was removed to hospital for treatment and the flight resumed its journey later.