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Patrick Flynn

Two transatlantic jets divert to Shannon airport due to medical emergencies

Shannon is the country’s busiest airport for aircraft diversions.

TWO TRANSATLANTIC PASSENGER jets have made unscheduled landings at Shannon Airport today after their crews declared medical emergencies.

United Airlines flight UA-121 diverted to Shannon after the crew reported they needed to seek medical attention for a passenger. There were 174 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 767-400 jet which was travelling from Barcelona in Spain to Newark, New Jersey in the United States.

The flight was approaching the south coast of Ireland at around 11.45am when the flight crew advised air traffic controllers of their emergency and requested clearance to divert to Shannon.

The pilot also sought permission to descend and dump aviation fuel off the south. This was to ensure that the aircraft touched down within safe landing weight limits.

After spending about 20 minutes jettisoning fuel, the flight diverted to Shannon where it landed safely at 12.44pm. The jet was met on arrival by airport fire and rescue crews who are mobilised as part of procedures when an aircraft dumps fuel before landing.

The aircraft taxied to the terminal where it was met by airport authorities and National Ambulance Service paramedics. A male passenger was removed from the aircraft and after being assessed by paramedics, was transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.

The flight is expected to resume its journey later this afternoon.

Earlier, a British Airways flight travelling from The Bahamas in the Caribbean to Heathrow in London also diverted to seek medical attention for a passenger.

shannon-2

British Airways flight BA-252 was almost six hours into its flight and still had about 90 minutes from London when the crew declared a medical emergency and requested permission to divert to Shannon.

The Boeing 777-200 jet landed safely at 9.50am and was met at the terminal by ambulance paramedics. A passenger was removed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment. The flight continued its journey to London later.

Shannon is the country’s busiest airport for aircraft diversions. It has the longest runway in Ireland at almost 3.2km (10,495ft) and capable of handling all passenger and cargo aircraft types.

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    Mute Brendan Woods
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:09 PM

    Two more people on trollies.

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    Mute Tommy C
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:09 PM

    @Brendan Woods: there not irish, they will be grand. Net result, jet fuel washing up on our beaches

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    Mute Paul
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:49 PM

    @Tommy C: correct, they’re not Irish. Also aviation fuel evaporates and those altitudes will rain down somewhere in the North Sea.

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    Mute James O'Donovan
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:54 PM

    @Tommy C: Net result is if they’re not EU citizens they get charged the Average Daily Cost (ADC) which it 10 times what you and me would pay as public patients.

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    Mute moreshitetalk
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:59 PM

    @Brendan Woods: I’m sure they are glad to be on trollies in the hospital rather than a slab in the morgue

    46
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    Mute Michael
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    Feb 14th 2020, 3:58 PM

    In our history we left in times of struggle and disaster. Today? We welcome anyone in your time of distress. Hope everyone is safe? Roll in SF, to say if they were in charge they wouldn’t allow anyone to land at Shannon.

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    Mute Jurga Moylan
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:00 PM

    @Michael:
    So they’ll change aviation laws now too will they?
    Ridiculous comment.

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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:09 PM

    @Michael: can you distinguish a passenger jet from a military jet ? It’s not too much to ask you know ?

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    Mute stephen darling
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:17 PM

    The plane will be on the return leg and they will still be on a trolly waiting to be seen .

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    Mute Keith ☘️
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:16 PM

    Hello coronavirus!

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    Mute Hugh Corcoran
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:51 PM

    @Keith ☘️: Hate to break it to you. Lots of planes land in Ireland everyday. Ridiculous comment

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    Mute Joe Toner
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    Jun 10th 2020, 8:55 PM

    @Hugh Corcoran:
    Some land and others bounce 30ft in the air and land again…. Never ending fun.

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    Mute Tjamr
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:34 PM

    hope they’re ok and don’t spend too much time on a trolly

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    Mute Deborah Blacoe
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    Feb 14th 2020, 3:58 PM

    Changes the whole concept of taking a dump.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:16 PM

    What would you do without your Flightradar app journal:(

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    Mute Paraic
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    Feb 14th 2020, 4:55 PM

    This doesn’t make any sense given the US statistics and 8 planes grounded in Heathrow too. https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/14/eight-planes-put-lockdown-heathrow-coronavirus-fears-12241391/

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    Mute Paraic
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    Feb 14th 2020, 8:29 PM

    @Paraic: Two fights diverted to Shannon, eight grounded in Heathrow and not a mention on Six One news.

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    Mute TJ Power
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:22 PM

    So they just dump aviation fuel ! Poor fish

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    Mute Dan Morgan
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:43 PM

    @TJ Power: it evaporates before it ever hits the ground

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    Mute scanlanavia
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    Feb 14th 2020, 6:32 PM

    @Dan Morgan: How comforting…

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    Mute Shane Cormican
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    Feb 15th 2020, 10:17 AM

    With that brilliant runway in Shannon we should just connect train service to it and use it as a hub center – no need for another runway in Dublin as the airport can’t handle its current operational workload

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    Mute Rory
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    Feb 14th 2020, 5:35 PM

    Limerick hospital GHT

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