Diversion
Landing at an airport other than the planned destination — for weather, a technical fault, fuel or a medical emergency on board.
Definition
A diversion is a landing at an airport other than the intended destination, decided by the captain. The reasons are usually weather at destination, a technical issue, fuel, an unruly passenger or a medical emergency where the nearest suitable airport is not the planned one. A return to the departure airport is a special case, sometimes called an air return. Diversions are not emergencies in themselves, though they can be the result of one.
What it means for you
A diversion means a cabin prepared for a landing nobody planned, passengers to brief calmly, possibly an unplanned night in a city with no crew hotel booked, and a duty that runs into discretion. If the trigger was medical, you will usually have been the one on the interphone assessing the passenger and giving the captain the information the decision hinges on.
In practice
A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to London diverts into Vienna after a passenger collapses and the on-board doctor advises the captain that the patient needs a hospital within the hour; the crew are back in Doha two days later than rostered.
Related terms
4 terms- Go-aroundFlight operationsA discontinued approach: the aircraft climbs away instead of landing and repositions for another attempt or diverts.
- DelayFlight operationsAny departure or arrival behind schedule — for crew, a duty that stretches and a rest period that shrinks.
- First aidSafety & trainingThe medical training and kit that make cabin crew the first responders to any illness or injury at 38,000 feet.
- Commander's discretionRoster & schedulingThe captain's authority to extend a duty or shorten a rest beyond normal limits for unforeseen events after report, after consulting crew.