This article is from page 6 of the 2012-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A PACKED passenger jet was forced to dump thousands of litres of aviation fuel over the North Atlantic and divert to Shannon Airport after a woman on board suffered a suspected heart attack.
Air Canada flight ACA-871 from Paris to Montreal in Canada was about 500 kilometres off the Irish west coast when the crew was forced to turn around and divert to the nearest suitable airport.
The Boeing 777-300 jet was carrying its maximum capacity of 350 passengers at the time. The flight had crossed over Ireland earlier at around 2pm and was about an hour into its oceanic crossing when the 55-year-old woman complained of chest pains.
Cabin crew members quickly tended to the patient and informed the flight crew of the incident. While staff administered oxygen to the woman, the captain contacted air traffic controllers, reporting a passenger was suffering a heart attack and that he wished to divert immediately.
The pilot declared a medical emergency and requested that medical services be available for the flights arrival. The crew had to dump thousands of litres of aviation fuel to ensure the aircraft touched down within safe landing weight limits.
Airport crash crews were placed on standby and took up designated positions alongside Shannon’s 3.2km long runway ahead of the flights arrival at 4.15pm.
Emergency vehicles raced down the runway after the jet and accompanied the plane to its parking position.
Fire crews checked to ensure the jet’s brakes had not overheated during the emergency landing.
A HSE cardiac ambulance and local doctor were standing by at the terminal building and medics quickly boarded the jet to assess the patient.
The woman was stabilised on board the aircraft before being re moved and taken by ambulance to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment. It’s understood the woman had a previous cardiac history.
The pilot also reported a possible technical issue as a result of having to jettison fuel.
He requested that engineers also be available to meet the aircraft and investigate the issue.