BA London - Jo'burg unscheduled landing in Cairo?
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Humble SLF with a question for cabin crew:
Diverting to Cairo for a medical emergency for that route will take some flight time, probably a few hours. Probably they made that choice because Cairo was the nearest field with good medical facilities, and the medical emergency was not so dire as to need immediate medical care. (Am i right in that presumption?)
At what point, if at all, would the decision be made to land at the nearest available airport as soon as possible, instead of diverting to the nearest airport with the best medical assistance? So, say, landing in Gabon or Togo instead of diverting to Malta or Cairo? Or will the flight always be taken to those fields instead of the nearest medical help?
Diverting to Cairo for a medical emergency for that route will take some flight time, probably a few hours. Probably they made that choice because Cairo was the nearest field with good medical facilities, and the medical emergency was not so dire as to need immediate medical care. (Am i right in that presumption?)
At what point, if at all, would the decision be made to land at the nearest available airport as soon as possible, instead of diverting to the nearest airport with the best medical assistance? So, say, landing in Gabon or Togo instead of diverting to Malta or Cairo? Or will the flight always be taken to those fields instead of the nearest medical help?
Starry-eyed surprise
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I don't know any details about this particular case, but in general an advisory service such as Medlink will make a diversion recommendation based on a combination of the airline's preferred diversion points operationally and the availability and suitability of local medical facilities. Even in serious medical cases it can sometimes be better to stay in the air for a little longer to reach a higher standard of medical care than just drop in to the nearest airport - the medical equipment on board most airlines and the high standard of cabin crew training can mean the unwell passenger has access to a higher standard of medical care on board than in some locations on the ground. As I said, this is not a comment on this specific case but a general observation in the light of hardhatter's question.
hardhatter
Humble SLF with a question for cabin crew......At what point, if at all, would the decision be made to land at the nearest available airport as soon as possible, instead of diverting to the nearest airport with the best medical assistance?
