A flight from the United Kingdom to the United States diverted to Shannon Airport this evening after the crew declared a medical emergency.
British Airways flight BA-113 departed Heathrow Airport at around 5.07pm and was routing to JFK Airport in New York at the time. There were 171 passengers and crew on board.
The flight had only overflown Ireland south of Shannon shortly after 6.00pm when the crew issued a May-day radio distress call and contacted air traffic controllers in Shannon requesting clearance to divert and land. The flight crew advised controllers that they had a male passenger on board who was reported to be unconscious.
Airport authorities were advised of the unscheduled arrival while the National Ambulance Service was also contacted and requested to deploy resources to the airport.
Before crew could commence an approach to Shannon however, they confirmed they would need to jettison fuel. The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner routed north for a time before turning towards Shannon while still dumping fuel.
As the aircraft had dumped fuel fire crews were deployed to designated holding positions adjacent to the runway in advance of the jet’s arrival. This is standard procedure at Shannon for any aircraft that has dumped fuel or has to land over the aircraft’s maximum design landing weight.
The flight landed at 6.36pm and was followed along the runway by airport fire crews who also accompanied the jet to the terminal. The flight was met by airport staff and ambulance paramedics.
