Today a Ryanair flight from London Gatwick to Shannon was forced to abort two attempted landings before diverting back to Liverpool.
The flight was due in Shannon Airport at 2:40pm today. However winds were too strong for a safe landing, reaching above the 50 knots limit, with the airport reporting the highest winds in the country with Storm Barney battering the west coast.
The crew performed a ‘go-around’ procedure and entered a holding pattern, hoping that the winds would soon die down. Soon after, a second attempt was made but the winds had gotten even stronger, reaching up to 61 knots (113 kph)
Winds at Cork and Dublin were also too strong for a safe landing, so the pilot the opted to divert to the nearest suitable airport which was Liverpool.
A Ryanair spokeswoman said:
“This flight from London Gatwick to Shannon (17 Nov) performed a routine go-around before diverting to Liverpool due to high winds at Shannon Airport. The aircraft landed normally at Liverpool and will depart for Shannon shortly when the weather improves. Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this weather diversion which was entirely beyond our control.”