Celtic legend’s wife dies on flight that made emergency landing at Cork Airport

The widow of Celtic legend Tommy Burns passed away on a flight from Tenerife which was diverted to Cork Airport yesterday due to a medical emergency.

Rosemary Burns reportedly passed away after falling ill on a Jet2 flight bound for Glasgow in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The flight – LS176 – departed Tenerife shortly after 10 pm on Tuesday and was en route to Scotland when the cabin crew sent out a code 7700 Squawk declaring an emergency onboard.

A Squawk 7700 code indicates that there is an emergency aboard the aircraft and can be issued due to technical, environmental or medical issues that need to be addressed immediately. The plane was flying near our southern coastline when the call was issued and Cork Airport made arrangements for the unscheduled flight to land as soon as possible.

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The 69-year-old had become unwell while on holiday in the Canaries and boarded an earlier flight home, according to reports from the Daily Record.

They said: “Rosemary became unwell while on holiday in Tenerife. She became ill and felt that she had to get home. She decided to end her trip and fly back to Scotland.

“She got on the plane and became unwell. The flight was supposed to land in Glasgow but it ended up being diverted to Cork.”

Jet2 confirmed flight LS176 was diverted to Cork after a passenger became ill on board in the early hours of Wednesday.

Celtic FC have paid tribute to Rosemary in a post shared on their social media accounts.

“Everyone at Celtic Football Club is devastated to hear of the passing of Rosemary Burns, wife of Celtic legend Tommy Burns,” the club wrote.

“The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the club, and the entire Celtic Family are with Emma, Jenna, Michael and Jonathan at this desperately sad time.”

Rosemary and Tommy met at just 17 years old at a disco in Glasgow. They married in 1980 and went on to have four children together. The couple were married for 28 years before Tommy’s death in 2008.

Tommy spent 14 years as a player with Celtic, winning six league championships, five Scottish Cups and one League Cup medal during his time with the club.

He returned to Celtic Park in 1994 as manager and guided the Glasgow club to the Scottish Cup in 1995 – Celtic’s first trophy in six years.

Rest in Peace.