The incident, in which the female passenger lost consciousness, occurred despite all passengers on board the flight from Sardinia last weekend being warned they should not consume peanuts in case it triggered a reaction in the woman.

Inverness man Neil MacLennan, who was on the flight, said the sky-high drama added to an already chaotic journey which was in turn compounded by the Glasgow Airport terror attack.

Mr MacLennan, of Castle Hill Drive, said problems surfaced before take-off.

On arrival at the airport in Sardinia, they were faced with a delay of around six hours because of a faulty door on the aircraft.

At that point, they were told they would be flown to Newcastle, but the delay was later extended by a further six hours so they could be flown to Inverness.

He said: "When we finally got on the plane, they announced there was someone with a peanut allergy on board and that we couldn't eat peanuts in case it got into the ventilation system.

"But because the plane had been scrambled from elsewhere, it had not been geared up for someone with a peanut allergy, so when this passenger ate the food served on the plane, there must have been something in it because she took an allergic reaction.

"There was panic on board and the air stewards were running around getting medical kits.

"They then had to make an emergency landing at Manchester Airport as they were not taking any chances. I have never descended so quickly on a plane."

At Manchester, passengers were then hit with the news the plane was unable to take off again because the crew could not work beyond their allotted hours.

Mr MacLennan explained: "We arrived in Manchester at 1am, but because of the terrorist attack in Glasgow all the hotels in Manchester had been booked up.

"They got the children and elderly booked first into hotels and we got to our hotel by 3am.

"A bus then picked us up on Sunday at noon and we got back to Inverness at 9pm on Sunday night. We had originally expected to be home at 2.30pm on Saturday. It was a real disaster."

A spokeswoman for XL Airways, the company responsible for the route, could not say how the anaphylactic shock in the female passenger had been caused.

She told the Highland News: "This was a very serious incident and our priority was for the passenger who I believe was unconscious, so we had to make an emergency diversion."

Andy Jones, air product director for Newmarket Holidays – which runs the package holidays from the Highland Capital – said the situation was made more difficult with the attempted terrorist attack in Glasgow on the same day.

He said: "The lady who took ill had a severe reaction to a nut allergy and went into anaphylactic shock and the pilot took the decision to make an emergency diversion.

"By the time the unconscious passenger was taken off the flight, subsequent problems began following the Glasgow incident, meaning it was difficult to take off and land again in Inverness.

"All the passengers were overnighted in hotels and they were bussed to Inverness the following morning.

"Normally, the diverted plane would have been able to take off again that day, but because of the terrorist attacks this was not possible.

"The crew had also gone into 'over hours', meaning they were not allowed to fly anymore."

h.bushnell@highland-news.co.uk

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