Passenger dies after flight diverted to Shannon Airport

A man died on board a transatlantic flight this evening while a second passenger, also believed to have suffered a heart attack, is recovering in hospital.

The two passengers were travelling on board Alitalia flight AZ-610 that was en route from Fiumicino in Rome to JFK Airport in New York.

The flight had just crossed the Irish coastline and commenced its Atlantic crossing when the crew declared a May Day, reporting a passenger on board had suffered a heart attack.

The crew of the Boeing 777-200 had been in contact with controllers at the North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen, Co Clare.

Shortly after 5pm, everything was normal on board the flight and controllers had cleared the jet to climb to 37,000 feet and continue across the Atlantic.

The flight only reached the cleared level when the crew advised controllers that they wished to divert to Shannon immediately. The aircraft was about 100km west of Loop Head at the time.

The flight turned around and routed towards Shannon, dumping aviation fuel to ensure a safe landing weight when they touched down.

The crew declared a May Day and requested medical services to be standing by when they arrived. The crew initially reported they had one patient with a suspected heart attack.

About 15 minutes before landing, the pilot informed to air traffic controllers that cabin crew staff were dealing with a second patient also with suspected cardiac problems.

The Irish-registered jet touched down safely at 5.39pm and taxied directly to the terminal building, where ambulance paramedics and a doctor were standing by.

Medics quickly boarded the aircraft to deal with the patients, but one passenger, a US citizen aged 80, was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body was removed to University Hospital Limerick (UHL), where a postmortem is expected to be carried out.

The second passenger was also removed to UHL and was reported to be in a stable condition tonight.

Gardaí confirmed one of the passengers had died and that they were treating the incident as a sudden death.

Gardaí at Shannon will prepare a file for the county coroner who is expected to hold an inquest in due course.

A comment was being awaited from the airline.

Last August, a 70-year-old US national died on board a Delta Airlines flight that diverted to Shannon.

In July 2012, a 60-year-old Belgian man died after suffering a heart attack on a flight from Cancun in Mexico to Brussels that also diverted to the mid west airport.