A flight from Dublin to a Spanish holiday island diverted to Shannon Airport this morning after a passenger was reported to have fallen ill on board.
Aer Lingus flight EI-762 departed Dublin at 7.45am bound for Tenerife in the Canary Islands. About 25 minutes later, while the flight was just south of Cork, the crew declared a medical emergency and advised air traffic controllers that they wished to divert to Shannon.
At around 8.10am, the Airbus A320 just turned around and routed directly to Shannon Airport where authorities had been notified of the unscheduled arrival. The National Ambulance Service was also alerted and requested to mobilise resources to the airport.
The airport’s fire and rescue service was alerted and placed on standby as a precaution after the crew confirmed they would be making an overweight landing. This is a standard procedure at Shannon for such landings.
The flight landed at 8.28am and was met at the terminal building by airport staff and ambulance paramedics. The patient, understood to be a man in his 60s, was removed to hospital for treatment.
The flight continued its journey to Tenerife shortly after 10.30am.
