Spain: Emergency plane landing at Palma de Mallorca airport

LAST UPDATE: 14.24

Palma de Mallorca police today arrested 11 people who escaped from a plane, which made an emergency landing yesterday at the airport of the city, one of the busiest in Spain, in the Balearic Islands, causing flight problems.

The plane, which was flying between Morocco and Turkey, changed course at 19.00 local time yesterday to Palma de Mallorca, due to the alleged illness of a passenger, the Spanish militia told the French Agency.

During the evacuation of the passenger, who felt unwell, about twenty passengers took the opportunity to leave the aircraft, running on the runway.

The police and the militia immediately started searches at the airport, as a result of which all activities were stopped. The services resumed around midnight, after a 4-hour break, according to airport officials.

According to the newspaper El Pais, investigators are examining the scenario of a trick aimed at entering Spain illegally.

“At the moment, 11 people have been identified by the police and the militia,” a local government spokesman confirmed.

At least 9 people are still fleeing, according to authorities.

The passenger, who complained that he felt unwell, was taken to hospital where he was found to be in critical condition and was arrested by police for “assisting in illegal immigration and breaking the law for foreigners”, according to the newspaper.

“He appears to have suffered a diabetic shock and was taken by ambulance to hospital with another person,” police said in a press release. The person accompanying him fled as soon as they arrived at the hospital.

According to the FlightRadar24 application, the aircraft was an Airbus A320 from Air Arabia Maroc, which operated the Casablanca-Istanbul route.

As a result of the incident, 13 aircraft bound for Palma changed course to other airports and 16 scheduled flights departed due to significant delays, according to airport officials.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ