A bird strike in one of the engines, a fuel dump, a diversion to Seville and – most likely – some wrong or inaudible communication from the crew. The perfect ingredients for the Cadiz football team to believe their end was near.
“We thought we were going to die,” the Cádiz football players were terrified when they saw a plume of smoke shortly after takeoff. Indeed, the EuroAtlantic Airways Boeing 767-300 (registered CS-TSU) suffered a bird strike shortly after take-off from Jerez Airport, Spain prompting the pilots to enter a holding pattern to check the situation and to dump fuel to reduce the landing weight. The “plume of smoke” is in fact the fuel being dumped.
? Muchísimas gracias a las personas que se han interesado por nuestro estado
? Hemos pasado un buen susto pero afortunadamente el fallo en uno de los motores se produjo al inicio del vuelo
? Como diría el mago “Gracias diosito”
?? Una pena que se haya cancelado… pic.twitter.com/nN4bj0N6W7
— Nacho Limón (@nacholimonlara) May 27, 2024
An emergency landing (note from editor: a precautionary landing) was immediately arranged, with a diversion to Seville.
“We had the fright of our lives,” one of the players said, adding that: “we really thought we were going to die. We noticed a small explosion and saw that the flight crew became nervous. There was a problem with the engine, and they told us we were going to land and get off the plane as quickly as possible. Fortunately, everyone is okay. Afterwards, we were told that one or more birds had flown into an engine.”
As a result of the diversion, three incoming flights were requested to delay the landing, as explained by Spanish air traffic control.
La tripulación del vuelo saliendo de #Jerez con destino centroamérica, en frecuencia del centro de control de Enaire en #Sevilla, nos indica que tienen un problema técnico a bordo y que necesitan desviarse al aeropuerto #Sevilla en emergencia.
Para priorizar su operación… pic.twitter.com/cnNrgU0tda— ?Controladores Aéreos ?? (@controladores) May 27, 2024
The players were brought back to Cadiz by bus.
? La plantilla del @Cadiz_CF ya parte de vuelta a Cádiz tras estar en el aeropuerto de Sevilla por casi 3 horas.
?? El avión que les llevaba a El Salvador chocó con un pájaro y provocó la rotura de uno de los motores, haciendo que aterrizase en Sevilla de emergencia.
Por… pic.twitter.com/UIKSozcCS1
— Álvaro Muñoz Gómez (@AlvarooSVQ) May 27, 2024
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