'Patera aérea': dozens of migrants escape after forcing Morocco-Turkey plane to land in Spain
In October last year, a group of Moroccan passengers fled a plane onto the runway in Spain's Mallorca island following an emergency landing of a Casablanca-Istanbul flight under a faux-health pretext.
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Five of the detained were immediately put back on the same plane while eight will be deported to Morocco. [Getty]
Twenty-eight passengers have run away across the tarmac in Barcelona after prompting an emergency landing of a Casablanca-Istanbul flight under a false pretext.
On Wednesday morning, Pegasus Airlines plane, a Turkish low-cost carrier, landed in Barcelona’s El Prat airport after a pregnant woman 'pretended' that her water had broken and she was in midst of labour.
As soon as the plane landed, dozens of passengers escaped the Casablanca-Istanbul flight, prompting chaos in El Prat airport.
Police shortly detained 14 people, including the pregnant woman who was checked in the hospital and found not to be in labour, officials said. A further 14 people have yet to be found.
Five of the detained were immediately put back on the same plane while eight will be deported to Morocco.
The nationalities of the rest of the escapees' group have not been announced yet.
The plane was carrying a total of 228 passengers from Morocco to Turkey.
In October of last year, a group of Moroccan passengers fled a plane onto the runway in Spain's Mallorca island following an emergency landing of a Casablanca-Istanbul flight under a false health pretext.
Twenty-five of them were arrested and prosecuted, while 6 escaped.
The October incident exposed a Facebook group where similar faux-health emergency escaping plans were discussed and organised.
Casablanca-Istanbul flights were mainly the perfect escape route for their itinerary and the simple requirements of travelling to Turkey administered for Moroccans. With only a passport and a one-way ticket, any person with a Moroccan passport can board a flight heading to Istanbul.
"Patera aérea" (air-boat) is one of the newest and most creative migration techniques Moroccans seek to move overseas as unemployment and economic hardship drive thousands of undocumented migrants to cross from Morocco to Europe through the mediterranean sea, land borders with Spain, and - most recently - emergency landings.
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