Pope Leo the Fourteenth left the Canary Islands and went to Rome on a Falcon plane, which was offered to him by the Spanish King Felipe VI, after his original plane had a technical fault, reported journalists from the scene, reported “Euronews“.
The plane took off a little after 18:00, and the arrival in Rome was expected around 23:00. The Pope ended his one-week visit to Spain today.
The pontiff’s departure from Tenerife earlier in the day was delayed due to a technical problem with the plane, after which he had to get off the plane, an AFP journalist from the scene reported.
King Felipe VI of Spain, who had just said goodbye to the pontiff on the runway, entered the plane of the Iberia company, after which both disembarked and returned to the terminal.
About 80 journalists remained on the plane, along with Vatican officials and members of the clergy.
“The departure of the papal flight has been delayed for half an hour due to a technical problem with the plane,” the communications service for the papal trip to Spain said.
The pilot first told the passengers that it was a technical fault, and later specified that there was an “unsuccessful engine start”, which he said was most likely caused by the weather conditions, i.e. the wind.
“Our maintenance team suggests that the aircraft be towed away, positioned upwind and re-attempted to restart the engine,” the pilot told passengers on board.
“We will try it. If it works, we will be able to take off,” he added.
The breakdown was an unusual end to an otherwise successful visit to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.
During the trip, Pope Leo the Fourteenth highlighted his message about migration, and also opened the new tower of the Sagrada Familia basilica.
This was the first time in decades that a papal flight had such a serious problem that the pope had to change planes.
Experienced Vatican reporters, some of whom were on the “Iberia” plane, recalled several incidents related to planes during the pontificate of St. John Paul II.
In 1986, while returning from India, John Paul II’s plane was forced to land in Naples due to a snowstorm in Rome. The passengers and the Pope then returned to Rome on a special train. In 1988, en route to the African nation of Lesotho, bad weather forced the late pope’s plane to land in South Africa—a country he had then excluded from his African tour because of apartheid. He was later transported by car to Lesotho.
Normally, on papal trips, the Italian national airline carries the pope to the destination and the national airline of the host country brings him back. Sometimes the Italian company makes the entire return flight, if the journey is particularly long or if the destination does not have adequate capacity.
The plane with which the Pope was supposed to return from Spain to the Vatican broke down
