An aeroplane that departed from Brussels Airport for Cuba this morning had to make an emergency landing near the French city of Nantes. After five hours on the plane, the 296 passengers were taken to the airport. The plane will fly to Havana tonight after a new crew is brought in from Brussels.
TUI fly Belgium flight TB353 from Brussels to Havana and Cancun, operated by Boeing 787-8 registered PH-TFL, had taken off normally from Brussels Airport at 08:00 this morning. After less than one hour into the flight, the aircraft was above Nantes and the pilots decided to divert to the local airport Nantes Atlantique, where landing occurred at 09:00.
“It is a flight to Havana and Cancun that had to land at Nantes in France because of a medical intervention,” TUI spokesman Piet Demeyere told Belgian newspaper HLN. “Due to the loss of time, the crew will not be able to carry out the entire flight and the plane will therefore have to return to Brussels for a new crew that will only then start its shift.”
“The flight is expected to fly from Nantes to Brussels around five o’clock. At the latest by seven o’clock, everything can be prepared to leave Brussels again for Havana,” Demeyere told VTM television channel.
“There was a medical emergency that required a passenger to disembark. Apparently, that person was in serious condition. He was taken off-board fairly quickly and we have been waiting here for five hours since then,” a passenger told HLN and VTM.
The 296 passengers disembarked around 16:00 and are waiting in the airport until another aircraft from Brussels can bring a new crew. The fact that the passengers had to stay on board because there were passengers who were not vaccinated.
Because the plane landed in Nantes with almost full fuel tanks, the landing gear had to be checked by an outside technician, who was difficult to find. It has to do with security protocols.
Eventually, a TUI fly Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered OO-TMZ carried a fresh crew from Brussels and landed in Nantes at 22:00 as flight JAF898P.
The Boeing 787-8 (PH-TFL) could thus continue its trip to the Caribbean and took off at 23:45. It is expected to land at Havana at 03:00 local time, with a delay of 15 hours.
Meanwhile, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 (OO-TMZ) returned to Brussels with the initial crew as flight JAF990P.
