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Passengers on a Qantas flight from Australia to London were forced to divert to the Maldives after a “medical incident” on board.
Flight QF9 from Perth to Heathrow Airport touched down in Malé, the capital city of the Maldives, following the mid-air scare on Monday (5 May).
According to FlightAware data, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departed Perth at 6.37pm local time, landing in the Maldives almost eight hours later at around 11.30pm.
Pilots chose to land the flight in the popular Indian Ocean archipelago following a medical emergency.
The Qantas ultra-long-haul flight between Western Australia and London usually takes around 17 and a half hours non-stop.
As the operating crew had reached their duty limit, the flight could not continue.
The airline confirmed that Qantas rebooked passengers on alternative flights out of Malé, with all customers expected to depart within 24 hours.
London staff members also travelled to Malé to provide additional support.
Details of the passenger’s medical condition have not been released.
A spokesperson for Qantas said in a statement: “Earlier this morning, our Perth to London service diverted to Malé in the Maldives due to a medical incident on board. We’re working with customers to rebook them on alternate flights out of Malé.”
Qantas apologised for the disruption to passengers’ journeys.
It’s not the first time a medical emergency has forced a flight to divert.
In November, a Ryanair flight to Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing in London after a passenger suffered a medical emergency mid-air and later died onboard.
Flight RK8293 from Tirana, Albania, to Manchester touched down at Stansted Airport on 10 November after “chaos” erupted in the cabin.
A fellow passenger told the Manchester Evening News that a man started “having convulsions” before passengers trained in first aid performed CPR in the aisle.
Two members of the cabin crew reportedly used the defibrillator on the man for 25 minutes before the flight made an emergency landing at London Stansted.
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