Dublin and Shannon airports dealt with separate emergencies yesterday after two aircraft turned around over the Atlantic and made unscheduled landings.
Both flights dumped thousands of litres of aviation fuel before turning around.
British Airways flight BA-193, which was en route from London to Dallas, Texas, was about 500km northwest of Shannon when it turned around because a passenger had become ill. There were 295 passengers and 16 crew on board.
Earlier, the crew of another US-bound jet returned to Dublin after they experienced engine problems. Ethiopian Airlines flight ETH-500 left Dublin shortly after 6am but an hour later was forced to turn around.
It had been travelling from Addis Ababa to Washington via Dublin.
The plane landed safely at Dublin Airport at 8.35am. It was followed along the runway by emergency vehicles.