Update:
Saturday – 1.00am – The flight continued to Toronto at 12.55am.
Earlier: A Canada-bound flight was forced to turn around over the North Atlantic and divert to Shannon Airport after a passenger was reported to have fallen ill.
Air Canada flight AC-859 was travelling from London’s Heathrow Airport to Toronto in Canada at the time.
The flight was almost four hours into its journey and about two hours north west of Shannon when the crew declared a medical emergency and turned around. The crew advised air traffic controllers they wished to divert to Shannon to seek medical attention for the passenger.
National Ambulance Service paramedics were standing by for the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner jet when it landed at 11.20pm.
The passenger was removed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
The flight is expected to continue to Toronto later.
Shannon Airport continues to handle the most unscheduled landings and emergency diversions of any Irish airport. With the longest runway in Ireland, at 3.2 kilometres, Shannon sees diversions on an almost weekly basis.
In 2017, of the 113 unscheduled landings, 24 were medical emergencies. Shannon handled six diversions in November, half of which were medical.