The World2Fly plane that made an emergency landing at the Lisbon airport, late this Saturday afternoon, has already resumed its trip to Cuba, after 9:00 p.m. World2Fly Portugal’s Airbus A330-343, bound for Varadero (where it was due to land at 8:34 p.m. local time), left the capital’s airport this afternoon, shortly after 4:30 p.m., and would end up having to return to the Pista Humberto Delgado, to land of emergency.
During the afternoon, the Observer learned that firefighters from Sapadores de Lisboa were called to the Lisbon airport, mobilizing nine vehicles and 30 men. Over the course of more than two hours, in-flight radar images of the aircraft pointed to several turns in the mountainous region of Sintra, indicating that the aircraft was trying to burn fuel in order to land safely.
The Lusa agency, an official source from NAV, the company that controls air traffic, was told this afternoon that the emergency landing should take place between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., something that ended up being confirmed, with the landing taking place. took place shortly after 7:30 pm 7:10 pm A NAV source also said that “all precautionary measures” were taken and “security procedures” were carried out at the Humberto Delgado airport, in Lisbon.
In statements to SIC Notícias, João Filó, World2Fly’s training director, denies that the plane had technical problems. “The plane is making an absolutely normal and safe flight.”
“It will make a normal landing, within the limits of the manufacturer Airbus. He will take the taxi to the stand at the airport, refuel and if he manages to leave in the next hour and a half, two hours, he will take a normal flight from Lisbon to Varadero, with all the passengers on board. safely”, stressed this official, who denied problems with the landing gear. “The plane had to turn back (…) for operational reasons.”
Miguel Simões, director of flight operations for World2Fly, also told SIC Notícias that there was no emergency situation on board. “There was no emergency, the plane returned to Lisbon for an operational decision and will depart for Varadero after analyzing all the conditions”, referring to a problem in the “landing sensor”.
“The question has been answered and then with security and tranquility we will make the request for the flight from Varadero.” The company’s director of operations assured that “if there had been an emergency or urgency” the plane would not have been there to consume fuel. “There was and there is no emergency,” he stressed.
Paulo Soares, a captain who specializes in air accidents, mentions forgetfulness as a possible cause of the incident: “I have a very strong suspicion of what happened, and I usually don’t do this, because the investigation usually does. is that the landing gear locking pin has not been removed after performing the positioning maneuvers of the landing gear [o avião] take off“, he tells SIC Notícias, suggesting a possible human error. According to the expert, this pin is located on the front wheel and serves “to facilitate the movement of the plane from the ground” and so that “it cannot rise under any circumstances.”
The director of flight operations of World2Fly assured that “safety conditions were met to proceed to the destination”, indicating that “passengers were given the opportunity to continue or leave if they so wished”. Passengers were also asked if they had “psychological and physical conditions to continue” their trip. The flight is scheduled to depart “within the next hour.” Miguel Simões confirmed that the plane would continue full, with “388 people” on board, without cancellation.
In a note sent to the Lusa agency, ANA — Aeroportos de Portugal indicates that at the moment the operation at the “Lisbon airport is proceeding normally”, adding that “there was no divergence of flights”.
The Spanish World2Fly is the brand of the Spanish group World2Meet (W2M), which this month began direct flights between Lisbon and Varadero, in Cuba. The scales have a weekly frequency, with departures on Saturdays.
World2Fly’s fleet includes three long-haul aircraft: one A330-300 (based in Lisbon) and two A350-900s, based in Madrid, the capital of Spain.
Source: Observadora
