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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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Long flights can be an ordeal for some people, and to have a passenger indulging in this sort of behaviour makes it all the worse.
They should make an example of him!
@Josh Hanners: they did.
10 YEARS IN PRISON OR 10000 EURU FINE
@pat seery: Beats Rendition???
@pat seery: The cost of the fuel to divert
Landing fees at Shannon
Loss of some connecting flights (reimburse passengers)
Legal fees against him would be an eye watering lesson for the hot headed chap
@pat seery: you right excalty
@Means of escape: roughly what does it cost to land at shannon/dublin & any idea what the cost of the fuel would be??
@Glenn k ☘☘: €20.75 per tonne for first half hour. 16.75 per tonne for every extra 30 mins its on the ground.
@Means of escape: Fuel for an A350 divert…eye watering.
@pat seery: that would concentrate the mind. Was he drunk? Amazes me that drunks are permitted to board. Maybe a breathalyser at check in for anyone suspected of being drunk?
@Cian: thanks
We are meant to be building a second runway, I wonder if the runway could cater for these planes, I do remember ages ago industry analyists and pilots the runway was to short but government said it was adequate
@Charles McGuire: shannon has a crazy long runway, more so than Dublin being short. Shannon was a designated space shuttle landing facility as a result
@Charles McGuire: Dublin airport runway is perfectly fine in normal take off and landing circumstances. In this case the A350-900 would probably still have in excess 85% -90% of jet fuel load which combined with a full complement of passengers and baggage and other cargo plus weight of plane … it would still near maximum take off weight , in normal long haul flights, most the fuel is consumed , so for safety would need an extra long runway to come a complete stop… due extra landing weight …..otherwise they would have to dump most of the jet fuel over the Ocean….. so landing in Shannon makes since it one the longest civilian airport runways in the world and it used frequently for trans-Atlantic emergency landings …..it have being directed to Shannon in the first place ..
@Ronan Fahy: shannon built the runway to cater for American military aircraft ( or Russian let’s hedge out bets)
@Trixie: correct . It was one the only civilian runways that could / can support a fully loaded USAF B52 bombers …. ii.e. the ones that carry nukes … official Irish government policy is no B52 ever landed carrying nukes … it was simply there in case of emergency … it was a different world back then when the current Shannon runway was built .. Dwight D Eisenhower was US President .. BTW. Eisenhower offered De Valera to a complete motorway system in Ireland back in then if we signed up to Marshall plan and agreed to join NATO. De Valera said “No Thanks” and we eventually built a reasonable a National motorway system by 2010… 50 years later …although still lots of gaps ( eg M20 CK to Lmk) …. and baring the recent addition of M18/M17 all the others lead to Dublin ..
@XvSv: Shannon airport is nowhere near ‘one of the longest civilian runways in the world’! Wouldn’t even make the list of the top 100
@Boeing Lover: Aye? Mon then, Captain Aviation.
@XvSv: excellent explanation sir
@Boeing Lover: Why on earth did I just look that up!! Anyway you are spot sir
@Leroy Brown: sorry Leroy if you have heard this before but here goes : do you find something comical about my appearance. This is the only automobile I can afford.
@Trixie: It was built that long as they could and it was used for training by airlines all across the world because of the length, they could make mistakes and still land safely. Aeroflot used it as a staging point for its Cuba flights
@XvSv: Judging by the quality and location of the Motorways in the US it’s probably better we didn’t get one built. Our cities would have been destroyed.
3200 metres is 3.2km, not 3.25km.
@David Keohane: 3200m = 3.25kms.
3250m = 3.20kms
@John kane: huh?
@John kane: No …
He will get a slap on the wrist and a 200 euro fine……this is ireland where the justice system favors the criminals ….last five diverted flight thugs got away with a suspended sentence.
If its at Airbus A350 why a picture of a small A320 that can’t fly across the pond?
@Arthur FitzPatrick: because who gives a s%$t
Sounds like a pure handling hi as a donegal man would say
Pilot must have had a good laugh at the Irish capital not having a runway long enough to land.
Hello
State Airports Act.
State Airports Act.
@Just Some Guy: sounds like a lovely group of British lads starting their holiday drinking at the airport. Idiots!
Why dont they at least put up the correct type of air raft that landed A350.
Assuming, perhaps if it was behaviour induced by alcohol why was he allowed to board in the first place.
No matter what you say, it’s Boora Bog for
Me any day of the week.
The lark in the clear air above the skies of Uí Fhailí,,,, go the Faithful trail,
have your say