A transatlantic flight diverted to Shannon Airport this morning after the crew informed air traffic controllers that they had a passenger who required medical attention.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KLM-713 was travelling from Amsterdam in The Netherlands to Paramaribo in Suriname on the north-eastern coast of South America. There were 367 passengers and crew on board.
The Boeing 777-300(ER) jet was about 230 kms south of Ireland over the Celtic Sea when the crew requested clearance to divert to Shannon. The crew asked that emergency medical services be available for their arrival and advised controllers that they would need to dump aviation fuel. This is a done  to ensure an aircraft touches down within safe landing weights limits.
The flight crew spent around 15 minutes dumping fuel before commencing their approach to Shannon. As a result, the airport’s own fire and rescue service was notified and placed on standby as a precaution. This is standard procedure when an aircraft has jettisoned fuel before landing.
The National Ambulance Service was also alerted and requested to dispatch resources to the airport.
The flight landed safely at 10.42am and taxied to the terminal accompanied by fire crews who carried out an inspection of the aircraft’s undercarriage to ensure the braking system hadn’t overheated during the landing.
Ambulance paramedics were standing by to board the aircraft and assess the patient who was later transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
The flight resumed its journey at 12.10pm.
