An Air Canada flight from Germany to Toronto was forced to divert to Shannon Airport in Ireland last night after an 87-year-old woman caused a disturbance on board.

The pensioner, who was travelling in First Class on board the Boeing 777-300 jet, was allegedly restrained by cabin crew until the plane was forced into the unplanned landing.

The flight crew alerted the pilot, who put a call in to the Irish Aviation Authority’s (IAA) North Atlantic Communications Service centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare, who advised to land at Shannon.

An 87-year-old woman caused a disturbance on board an Air Canada flight from Germany to Toronto that forced a diversion to Shannon Airport

On touching down at around 8.15pm local time, Gardaí­ and airport police officers were standing by, and the woman was taken into custody.

MailOnline Travel have been advised by Irish police that the woman has since been released without charge, and she will be undergoing a 'fit-to-fly- screening in the hope of continuing her journey.

There is no indication from the police as to the actions of the woman on board at this time.

The decision was taken to divert when the Air Canada flight ACA-877 was around 600 miles north west of Shannon, and the plane, carrying 211 passengers, turned around.

The Irish Times report that 'airport emergency services were standing by at strategic locations along the runway so that they could follow the aircraft once it had landed.'

On touching down at Shannon Airport, the elderly woman was met by Irish police and taken into custody

As expected with unscheduled landings, the plane was forced to dump fuel in advance of the descent over the Atlantic.

A spokesperson for Air Canada told MailOnline Travel: 'Our flight, AC877 on Friday, April 10, Frankfurt to Toronto, diverted to Shannon due to a disruptive passenger, who was removed from the aircraft.