Patrick Flynn
A holiday jet made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport after the crew declared a medical emergency over the Atlantic reporting a child on board had fallen ill.
It was the second emergency medical diversion to Shannon Airport yesterday.
Flight OR-383, operated by Tui Fly Netherlands, travelling from Amsterdam in The Netherlands to Oranjestad on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, diverted to the Midwest airport.
The Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner was just over 500 km southwest of Shannon when the crew turned around. The flight had earlier over flown directly over the airport as it crossed through Irish airspace.
Medical emergency
At around 6.30pm Irish time, the crew declared a medical emergency and requested clearance to divert to Shannon. The crew reported that a six-year-old child had fallen in and required medical attention.
Controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare cleared the flight to divert to Shannon where authorities had been notified. The National Ambulance Service was also contacted and requested to dispatch resources to the airport.
The flight landed safely at 7.05pm on Saturday evening and was met by airport fire crews which had been standing by adjacent to the runway. This is standard procedure at Shannon for any aircraft making an overweight landing which can result in an aircraft’s brakes overheating or catching fire.
Fire crews pursued the aircraft along the runway after it landed and remained with the jet until it was confirmed the braking system’s temperatures were within safe limits. The jet taxied to the terminal where ambulance paramedics were waiting.
It’s understood that a 6-year-old child has been transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
Flight OR-383 departed Shannon again shortly before 9.30pm but returned to Amsterdam rather than continue to its original intended destination in Aruba.
Canada flight
Earlier, the crew of Westjet Airlines flight WS-3, travelling from Toronto, Canada to Gatwick Airport in England, declared a medical emergency over the Atlantic and diverted to Shannon.
The flight was travelling from Toronto, Canada to Gatwick Airport in England at the time.
The Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner jet was about 330kms southwest of Kerry and 460kms from Shannon when the flight crew made contact with air traffic controllers in Ireland at around 7.40am to advise them of their emergency.
The flight landed at 8.15am and was met on arrival by airport authorities and ambulance paramedics. The passenger was removed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
The flight continued its journey to Gatwick at 9.41am.
No information about the condition of the patients is available.
