Fake childbirth call forces Pegasus Airlines flight to divert to Barcelona, Spain; twenty-eight passengers flee

A strange incident occurred on flight PC652 of Pegasus Airlines. In the very early morning of 7 December, the flight uneventfully departed from Casablanca Airport, Morocco, with destination Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Turkey. Around 1 hour 45 minutes into the flight, a passenger claimed she started labour, forcing the crew to divert to Barcelona, Spain, for a so-called emergency landing.

Just after landing at the Spanish airport, however, 28 passengers left the aircraft and jumped onto the tarmac. After a search, Spanish police were able to catch 14 of them. Five passengers were forced to board the aircraft again. Eight others will be sent back to Casablanca.

Upon investigation in the hospital, the passenger was found only five months pregnant. She has now been accused of making a false statement and disrupting the flight.

In November 2021, an Air Arabia Airbus A320 which was on the same route diverted to Palma de Mallorca, Spain due to the faked illness of a passenger. During the evacuation of the “ill” traveller, about 20 passengers ran away from the plane on the tarmac and jumped over the fence of the airport. The other passengers remained on board. Eleven of them were arrested, and nine others remained at large.