AN UNSCHEDULED fuel stop by a British Airways flight resulted in the Olympic torch also making a unexpected stop in Ireland yesterday, six weeks before it was due to officially visit here.
British Airways flight BA2036 was one of two flights forced to divert to Shannon airport to take on extra fuel after air traffic control issues in Canada forced them to take longer routes than anticipated.
Flight 2036 was travelling from Orlando in Florida to Gatwick in the south of England. It was about 300km off the southwest coast of Ireland when the crew requested permission to divert to Shannon. The flight touched down at 6.55am.
The flight was later grounded there after it was beset by other problems. The Boeing 777 developed a technical issue and then a passenger suddenly fell ill on board and had to be rushed to hospital in Limerick.
As a result, the crew ran out of flight hours and were unable to continue their journey.
The presence of the torch on the flight added to the difficulty of getting the passengers to London. The torch, which is due to visit Belfast and Dublin in early June, was being brought to England by Piers Skinner, director of customer management for Coca Cola.
It was when Mr Skinner got off the flight to board another service to Heathrow that the torch was initially spotted during a security check.
Airport duty manager Natasha Naughton-O’Keeffe was one of the first to recognise and hold the Olympic torch while it was being transferred between flights.
“I certainly wasn’t expecting to be holding the Olympic torch when I came into work this afternoon but it’s certainly made the evening shift a lot easier.
“The whole world will be looking at the Olympic torch on the opening night of the games in June and I’ll be able to say I carried it too,” she said.