A large-scale security operation has come to an end at Shannon Airport.

Gardaí carried out a security sweep this afternoon on a Turkish Airlines plane that was forced to divert to the airport.

The plane has since departed from Shannon.

The Boeing 777 plane, with 227 passengers and crew on board, landed safely at Shannon at around 11am today.

Turkish Airlines Flight 34 was traveling from Houston to Istanbul and was due to land there at around 3.45pm (Irish time).

However, it is understood that crew discovered a written note on board that caused them to take the decision to divert the plane to Shannon.

The airport was put on alert at around 9.00am.

Fire service personnel from Shannon and Ennis were sent there while the Irish Coast Guard and ambulance were also alerted.

The plane has been taken to a remote part of the airport, and the passengers and crew have been evacuated.  

Niall Maloney is airport operations director at Shanon and says gardaí will investigate following the diversion this morning: