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A DUTY MANAGER at Shannon airport had the unexpected honour of becoming an Olympic torchbearer after getting her hands on the torch six weeks ahead of schedule.
The plane carrying the precious cargo made an unscheduled stop at Shannon airport yesterday evening when the flight from Orlando to London Heathrow diverted to Shannon for refuelling.
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Duty manager Natasha Naughton-O’Keefe’s evening shift was given a boost when she become one of the first at the airport to hold the torch while it was being transferred from to a scheduled service from Shannon to Heathrow.
It will be returning to Ireland on 6 June for a brief visit to Dublin, and Olympian Sonia O’Sullivan has been named as one of the official bearers. Barcelona ’92 medallists Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough will be involved in the symbolic border crossing in Newry.
Naughton-O’Keefe meanwhile said that when the “whole world will be looking at the Olympic torch on the opening night of the games in London in July I’ll be able to say I carried it too”.
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Forced divert is too strong a term. Planes carry enough fuel to reach their destination and an alternative if they have to divert. Crossing the Atlantic the winds may have been stronger than anticipated and caused them to use too much fuel. Or a predicted delay at the destination which could mean entering a holding pattern could also mean that they would need more fuel. Generally erring on the side of caution. Nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not an emergency. Unless they were dangerously low on fuel.
Hi all, I’ve confirmed the details with the information from the airport and amended the story to remove the word ‘forced’, as there is no indication that there was any emergency.
Oversight on my part and apologies for any confusion caused.
Publicity stunt, if the plane did have to stop to refuel, why would the duty manager at the airport stand a pose for a picture with the torch in her hand.
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