"Water broke" lie... 12 passengers escape from stopped plane

Passenger Plane Departing from Morocco to Turkey Makes Emergency Landing in Spain
28 Attempt Escape... Similar Incident Occurred in November Last Year

On the 7th (local time), reporters covering a passenger escape incident at El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] A plane made an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain, after a pregnant passenger reported an emergency, and more than ten passengers fled the aircraft.

According to foreign media including AFP on the 7th (local time), the pilot of a Pegasus Airlines passenger plane belonging to Turkey, which was flying from Casablanca, Morocco, to Istanbul, Turkey, requested an emergency landing at El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, around 4:30 a.m., saying that the pregnant passenger's amniotic fluid seemed to have broken.

The passenger plane carrying 228 passengers arrived at Barcelona airport before sunrise, and ambulances were waiting on the runway. However, as soon as the plane landed and the doors opened, 28 passengers jumped off the plane. The police restrained 14 of them, arrested one inside the airport and one outside. However, the whereabouts of the remaining 12 are still unknown. It is reported that except for one Palestinian national, all of them are Moroccan nationals.

Meanwhile, the passenger who stopped the plane claiming her water broke was taken to a nearby hospital for examination, which revealed that she was not in labor. She was arrested on charges of disturbing public order.

There was a similar incident last year where passengers fled from an emergency-landed plane. In November last year, a Moroccan passenger plane traveling from Casablanca to Istanbul made an emergency landing at Son San Juan Airport on the Spanish island of Mallorca, and 12 passengers fled. At that time, six hours after takeoff, a Moroccan passenger pretended to have a diabetic seizure, causing the plane to make an emergency landing, and amid the confusion, 24 male passengers attempted to escape.

They asked to go outside to smoke and then fought with the flight attendants before leaving the plane. They crossed the runway, climbed over the fence, and fled outside the airport. As a result, the airport was closed for about three hours.

Among the group of fleeing passengers, 12 were caught near the airport, and at least two took a ferry to Barcelona. The passenger who was said to be in a seizure was found to be fine after hospital examination and was eventually arrested. At that time, the Spanish government said, "We are working to ensure that this incident remains an exceptional case," but a similar incident occurred again in just over a year.

The British BBC reported that this incident set a precedent for illegal migration from Africa to Europe. Illegal migration by plane costs only about 200 euros (approximately 270,000 KRW) for a one-way ticket, making it much cheaper and safer than illegal boat migration, which requires paying large sums to illegal brokers and risking one's life.