Aer Lingus flight to Dublin forced into Shannon diversion

Passengers from London Heathrow told wind conditions ‘unstable’ on approach

The 180 passengers on the aircraft were told a second flight following just minutes behind also had to abandon its landing. File photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times
The 180 passengers on the aircraft were told a second flight following just minutes behind also had to abandon its landing. File photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times

An Aer Lingus flight to Dublin was diverted to Shannon after an attempted landing was aborted on Thursday afternoon.

A second aircraft following immediately afterwards also aborted its landing.

Passengers on the Aer Lingus flight EI 163 from London Heathrow were informed that the wind conditions made it too “unstable” to land and the flight was forced to “go around”.

The 180 passengers on the aircraft were told a second flight following just minutes behind also had to abandon its landing.

The Aer Lingus flight, which also served as a British Airways and a United Airlines scheduled flight, then diverted to Shannon where it refuelled prior to flying back to Dublin.

A large number of passengers on the flight were due to make scheduled connections for flights to the United States.

The Are Lingus flight, due in Dublin at 2.55 pm, finally landed in the capital at 5.24 pm after the Shannon diversion

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Marie O’Halloran

Marie O’Halloran

Marie O’Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times