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File image of Lufthansa jet. Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

Transatlantic flight forced to divert to Shannon over 'abusive passenger'

The flight crew requested to divert to Dublin Airport to have a male passenger “off-loaded”.

A MAN HAS been arrested after a transatlantic flight was forced to divert to Shannon Airport this evening.

Lufthansa flight LH-412 was travelling from Munich, Germany to Newark, New Jersey and had just crossed the Irish coastline over Co Galway when the flight crew contacted air traffic controllers to report they had an “abusive passenger” on board.

The flight crew confirmed that they wished to divert to Dublin Airport to have a male passenger “off-loaded”.

The Airbus A350-900 jet made a U-turn west of Clifden and began to route towards Dublin but was unable to land there because the crew required a longer runway to cater for the extra weight they were carrying.

The crew turned around over the Irish Sea northeast of Dublin and diverted instead to Shannon Airport where the runway, at 3,200 metres or 3.25km long, is the longest in the country.

The flight landed safely at 7.11pm and was directed to a remote taxiway where airport authorities and Gardaí were waiting to board the plane.

The passenger was removed from the aircraft and taken to Shannon Garda station for questioning in relation to alleged breaches of the Air Navigation and Transport Act.

The man, believed to be a Polish national, is alleged to have been abusive to crew members while an assault is also alleged to have occurred.

A Garda spokesman confirmed: “Gardaí were waiting for the aircraft when it landed at Shannon Airport. A male passenger was removed from the aircraft and taken to Shannon Garda station for questioning in relation to an alleged incident on board.”

The man’s baggage was also taken off the plane before the flight could continue to Newark. The flight continued its journey at 9.25pm.

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    Mute Fiona O'sullivan
    Favourite Fiona O'sullivan
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    Jul 19th 2016, 12:39 PM

    Sympathy to the poor woman, but serious sympathy to the poor truck driver, this is becoming all to frequent in this country, he was only doing his days work, minding his own business.

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    Mute Adrian O'Donnell
    Favourite Adrian O'Donnell
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    Jul 19th 2016, 12:00 PM

    That poor woman. Her whole life turned upside down on a morning where we all should be just enjoying the sunshine and then this happens. Devastated for her.

    452
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    Mute Deirdre Mac Mahon
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    Jul 19th 2016, 2:19 PM

    This is utterly horrible. Poor young mum. Poor wee kid. Words fail me

    199
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    Mute Fiona Larkin Ryan
    Favourite Fiona Larkin Ryan
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    Jul 19th 2016, 1:54 PM

    So tragic. How is that mother ever going to get over this. Rip little man. Watch over your mam.

    194
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    Mute Mary Walshe
    Favourite Mary Walshe
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    Jul 19th 2016, 3:04 PM

    Looks like it was deliberate. I could be wrong but it looks like attempted murder of the woman and murder/ suicide of the child and man. I know that road well and if he was from Lattin he would know it well too and would know not to overtake. Rip to both and my utmost sympathy to the mother of the little boy.

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    Mute Pat Walsh
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    Jul 19th 2016, 1:20 PM

    He’s not eastern European, his parents are Italian, but he was born and raised here,

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    Mute Steve McMahon
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    Jul 19th 2016, 1:49 PM

    Don’t like the look where this story is going

    85
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    Mute Ricky Grimes
    Favourite Ricky Grimes
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    Jul 19th 2016, 3:28 PM

    It’s easy to condemn but the poor man must have been in a very distressed state of mind to do something like that.
    RIP.

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
    Favourite Sinead Hanley
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    Jul 19th 2016, 9:38 PM

    Fcuk him. He just destroyed a mothers life and murdered her son. If he lives we would all be saying he should be locked up. But now that he died we feel sorry for him. And don’t get me started on the funeral service for this fella where the priests says “it’s a dark day”.. This man just murdered his son and attempted to murder his partner. S(umbag

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Jul 19th 2016, 9:39 PM

    Ricky.. Most murdering b@stards are in a distressed state of mind

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    Mute Ricky Grimes
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    Jul 19th 2016, 11:19 PM

    When a mother murders her children society reaches out the hand of compassion and understanding.
    Why is it not the same for fathers?

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Jul 19th 2016, 11:44 PM

    Ricky. Murdering mothers are worse than mothering dads

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    Mute Ricky Grimes
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    Jul 20th 2016, 12:15 AM

    Just think about what happened here for a moment………and reflect on how this situation spiralled out of control to this point. The human tragedy involved.
    Can we truly say we understand it and as such are in a position to make a judgement call one way or the other?

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    Mute Gwen Denny
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    Jul 20th 2016, 10:10 AM

    Sinead I hope you are never in a situation where your mind is so badly messed up by depression that you are not thinking rationally. Obviously this man was out of his mind doing this and it breaks my heart that a little boy has died and his mother had to go through such an assault, but nobody knows his circumstances and shouldn’t be quick to judge that he was ” evil” . I’m not saying I agree with what he did because I don’t , but with serious mental health problems a while back myself I know that your mind does not think normally . I certainly hope this is the case with him because I’d hate to think this WAS an act of pure evil

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    Mute Jumperoo
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    Jul 19th 2016, 4:49 PM

    Oh no. That poor little boy. Whether the crash was an accident or deliberate, no child deserves that.

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    Mute tonymcc
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    Jul 19th 2016, 5:12 PM

    So sad, too much detail re the crash. Horrible set of circumstances

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    Mute Rusty3578
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    Jul 19th 2016, 6:40 PM

    It’s just so sad to be hearing about theses suicides , people should always realised that life is 2 step backwards and 1 step forward , this carry on could be avoided… RIP to the little lad … So sad !

    27
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