Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR
AWR... your profile doesn't say much about you but I'm assuming you are not an aviation professional and may not be familiar with such events. Diversions for medical emergencies are not uncommon and it would obviously be preferable to pop into somewhere in the UK rather than spend hours over the Atlantic with a sick passenger.
ATC and the airlines go to great lengths to assist in such cases. One could argue that launching a lifeboat to rescue a kid on a surfboard is a huge waste of resources but it's good to know that for some organisations human life is still valuable.
I think you've misunderstood me - I am very aware how common medical diversions are and have no problems why airlines do it.
My point of the post is firstly trying to confirm if the divert was indeed for medical reasons; and my later comment was simply my amzement how expensive such a divert must be. I am certainly not implying that an aircraft shouldn't divert. - I am quite sure there are less serious on-board illnesses that Airline Crew/Ops decide don't need diverts which we never hear about.
And without boasting, I would class myself as an industry professional of sorts - though I'm not crew or ATC.