Watch: Footage Emerges Of Moroccan Men Jumping Off Plane And Fleeing Malta International Airport
With two escaped Moroccan men still on the run somewhere in Malta, footage has now emerged of the moment the group of four men jumped off a moving plane at the airport yesterday.
In the exclusive clip shared by Turkish media company Hava Sosyal Medya, one of the men can be seen running away from the plane as passengers incredulously looked on.
The incident went down after a New Year’s Day Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Marrakech made an emergency landing in Malta due to a passenger reportedly feeling unwell. When the plane touched down, four passengers snuck towards the rear as airport staff began preparations for the disembarkation of the sick passenger, bringing stairs to the front door.
It was here that, with AFM officials on-site to oversee it all, the four men opened the rear door, jumping a couple of metres onto the runway, and sprinted across the apron and towards the under-construction area of the airport’s terminal expansion project. Sources told the Times Of Malta that the four men, all Moroccan, managed to evade capture, with the AFM officials not being able to catch up due to “an 11-second head start”.
Eventually, police caught two of them (aged 28 and 34) in the following hours, but the two others remain at large.Just last year, in November 2023, another Turkish Airlines flight ended up going from a fake medical emergency to an attempted escape when a flight to Algiers was diverted and triggered the short-lived fleeing of two passengers.
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Meanwhile, the Malta International Airport has since issued a statement on the bizarre apron escape.
MIA confirms that on January 1, 2025, at 11:30 local time, the airport’s Aerodrome Operations Unit was informed by Malta Air Traffic Services that Turkish Airlines flight TK619, operating from Istanbul to Marrakesh, had been granted a medical diversion request. MIA teams immediately notified the relevant authorities, including Mater Dei Hospital and Immigration, as per standard procedure. Subsequently, the Immigration Sergeant requested specific de-boarding arrangements, including the opening of only one aircraft door, the use of a single set of steps, and the presence of an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) team on site.
The aircraft landed at 12:03 with emergency vehicles dispatched from Mater Dei Hospital arriving shortly after. Immigration police approached the aircraft via the stairs that were only deployed to the front of the aircraft, which were manned by members of the AFM.
Shortly after the ambulance had left for the hospital, four passengers were observed running across the apron and towards the runway. The escapees had jumped down from the aircraft, having opened the rear door without authorisation, evading the AFM guards stationed at the front of the aircraft. Air Traffic Control was immediately informed, and Runway 13-31 was closed as a safety precaution. It was subsequently confirmed via CCTV footage that the four escapees had jumped over the perimeter fence.
The runway was reopened at 13:22, and the aircraft was cleared for departure by AVSEC and the Immigration Police at 14:24. Throughout the incident, all coordination procedures with State Authorities were adhered to. Malta International Airport remains committed to supporting the State Authorities with their investigation.”
Have you ever seen anything like this?
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