‘Land ASAP’: What happens when pilots are forced to divert a flight

January 15, 2026 — 5:00am

On September 11, 2001, 38 commercial airline jets landed at the airport of the small community of Gander, Newfoundland, after being directed away from US airspace. It’s a side-note to the other terrible events of that day, but a story well-known to anyone who’s seen the hit show Come From Away.

While the influx of 7000 people to that small international airport was at the very extreme end of dealing with diversions, hopefully never to be repeated, it did highlight some of the considerations and challenges for pilots who find themselves needing to divert their aircraft on any given day.

Diversions are occasional, disruptive, even extremely annoying – but almost always necessary. Commonly, they occur because of a significant aircraft system failure. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner as an example, has more than 300 checklists pilots may need to call on to try to manage a system malfunction and nearly 50 of them include the magic words “plan to land at the nearest available airport”. Airbus is a little more direct, with a red message displayed – “Land ASAP”.

Flying up and down the east coast of Australia presents plenty of options if the mechanical issue is time critical. It is however more challenging flying over a vast ocean where the nearest airport may be four hours away.

And not all airports will be suitable. Pilots need to assess all the airports nearby for their weather, navigation aids, runway length and width. There is no point diving into an airport a short distance away if it is blanketed with fog, nor if there aren’t any facilities or ground support if passengers need to disembark or the aircraft needs to be refuelled.

A diversion may push a pilot outside the limits of their flight and duty restrictions, forcing them to finish for the day at the diversion airport.

The quality of medical care available can also be a key factor because passenger illness is another common reason for a diversion. Cabin crew are trained to administer basic first aid and yes, they will ask over the PA if there is a doctor onboard if they need help with diagnosis. Most airlines also have a medical advisor on call to provide real-time assessment and support through a satellite phone call from the flight deck. They are the ones who will give a recommendation on how to treat the passenger until the flight reaches its destination or tell the pilots they need to divert immediately for urgent care.

There are only certain destinations considered suitable in the event of a medical emergency, and it creates a challenge for pilots when time is of the essence. Picture a passenger experiencing a heart attack and under CPR. The pilots need to get on the ground as soon as possible, without jeopardising the safety of the entire aircraft during those stressful moments.

Weather is the third common reason for a diversion. As anyone who’s ever planned a backyard barbecue knows, while weather forecasts are mostly accurate, they are not always so. There are occasions, when a thunderstorm or fog band may develop that either wasn’t forecast or is worse than originally thought.

Pilots are often carrying extra fuel to allow the aircraft to hold until poor weather improves for a safe landing, but if the weather pattern remains in the area longer than anticipated, then a diversion may be needed.

Diversion airports can often fill up with unexpected arrivals if the weather is very bad, so sometimes it may be prudent for a pilot to make an early decision to divert, allowing for the aircraft to be re-fuelled and a new flight plan created. These “gas’n’gos” can take as little as 45 minutes and by the time the aircraft is ready to depart again the weather may have improved.

However, many passengers don’t realise that pilots and cabin crew are subject to strict flight and duty limitations. These rules are extremely complex but are ultimately designed to ensure that everyone required to safely crew an aircraft doesn’t become too tired. Domestic pilots in Australia can fly up to four, even five flights in a day, up to a total of 12 to 14 hours. A diversion may push a pilot outside the limits of their flight and duty restrictions, forcing them to finish for the day at the diversion airport, even if a diverted aircraft is able to safely take off again.

And if that isn’t frustrating enough for the passengers, very occasionally, a passenger may inadvertently end up ‘home’ if the flight has diverted to their local airport, instead of the destination they were going to connect through. Naturally, they request to get off, but the complications with offloading baggage may make that too difficult. Pilots share the frustrations, but there isn’t much that can be done.

One of the attractions of being a pilot is that no two days are the same. But, of course, that doesn’t mean we like the unpredictability of needing to divert an aircraft. Just remember, whether it is a sick aircraft, sick passenger or nasty weather, the mantra is always that it is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than being in the air wishing you were on the ground.

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