Emergency landing of Daallo Airlines B757 in Athens

A Boeing 757-200 of Daallo Airlines (D3/DAO) registered G-STRX, which operated by Astreus, declared an emergency due to low oil pressure on engine #2. It was flight DAO100 from CDG (Paris, France) to JIB (Djibouti City, Djibouti) with 88 passengers on board. The plane landed safely at 03:51L on runway 03L of ATH. It was then moved to a remote stand and is being inspected, before being cleared to continue to JIB.

Vueling flight 2901 received a bomb threat in Athens

A bomb threat was made against the Vueling flight 2901 from ATH to BCN (Barcelona, Spain) today. After boarding was finished, a passenger found a note stating that there is a bomb on board. An emergency was declared and the plane was moved to a remote position (west of the bridge on taxiway "Kilo"). All 148 passengers were disembarked safely and the plane was searched but no traces of explosives were found. The plane involved is an Airbus A320 registered EC-GRH. The flight is expected to depart from Athens at 00:15L to continue to Barcelona.


Airbus A320 / EC-GRH / parked in a remote location in ATH

Olympic Airlines flight 411 ATH-JFK returned to ATH due to emergency

Olympic Airlines flight OA411 from ATH to JFK had to return to ATH due to a No2 engine fire indication. The plane involved is the Airbus A340-300 registered SX-DFD. They had to dump fuel in order to reduce the plane's weight and be able to land safely. The plane landed without any problems at 13:50L on rwy 03R, using the whole runway length and making no use of thrust reversers. The emergency vehicles were not required to be on standby as the captain said. The flight is scheduled to depart again at 15:15L and be operated by Airbus A340-300 registered SX-DFB.

Turkish Airlines flight THY 1153 on an emergency diversion to Athens

Tuskish Airlines flight THY 1153 from IST (Istanbul, Turkey) to ALG (Algiers, Algeria) declared a medical emergency and diverted to ATH a few minutes ago. It is also reported that there were clogged lavatories as well. The plane involved is an Airbus A340 registered TC-JII. It landed at 13:14L and is expected to depart in a few minutes to continue to ALG.


Airbus A340 / TC-JII / about to depart from rwy 03L at 15:05L

EasyJet 8772 emergency diversion to Athens

EasyJet flight EZY8772 (calling as EZY772P) from HER (Heraklio, Greece) to LGW (Gatwick, UK) had to divert to ATH due to a technical issue with the pressurisation and air conditioning system. 137 passengers and 7 crew were on board. The plane involved is an Airbus A320 registered G-TTOJ. It landed safely on runway 21R in ATH on 14:57L. Prior to landing it went over KRO VOR (Karystos) and did a holding at 7000ft. A replacement Boeing 737 registered G-EZKB is scheduled to arrived from LTN (Luton, UK) at 20:50L in order to take the passengers.

Following is the EasyJet press release regarding the incident:

easyJet statement regarding diversion of flight EZY8772 to Athens

easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8772 on 14 April from Heraklion (Crete) to London Gatwick diverted to Athens Airport. The aircraft, an Airbus A320 with 137 passengers and 7 crew members on board, landed safely and uneventfully in Athens at 15.02 local time.

On route from Crete to London, the aircraft made a precautionary decent due to a technical issue with the pressurisation and air conditioning system. There was no requirement to deploy the passenger oxygen masks, and easyJet would like to stress that this was not an emergency landing, but merely a precautionary technical diversion.

Safety is easyJet’s number one priority and at no point of time was there any risk to the safety and well-being of our passengers. The passengers are currently at Athens Airport and as far as easyJet is aware none of them requires any medical assistance.

An aircraft is on route to Athens and is scheduled to leave Greece at 19.25 local time with the passengers of the diverted flight. The flight is estimated to arrive at London Gatwick at 21.55 UK time.

Thanks to Alex for the photo

Airbus A320 / G-TTOJ / parked in Athens after the emergency diversion

Air France 1532 emergency landing in Athens

Air France flight 1532 from CDG (Paris, France) to ATH had a problem with hydraulics while on final approach for landing and had to carry out a missed approach procedure. The plane then came back and did a safe landing but had to stop on the runway upon landing. Fire trucks, ambulances and airport rescue cars were waiting on the taxiway. Both engines were shutted down and a tug truck was used to help the plane vacate the runway and guide it to it's stand. The flight was operated by an Airbus A320 registered F-GHQK.

Update 7/4/2009
169 people were onboard the flight. The return flight was cancelled and the plane departed without passengers the next day at 08:00L as AF390V heading back to CDG (Paris, France). A video of the climb out on the missed approach procedure is also available below.

Update 8/4/2009
The problem was with the green hydraulic system which was lost during the gears extension prior to landing on runway 03L. The plane then executed a go around but the loss of this system prevented the gears from being retracted during the missed approach procedue (as seen in the video) because the gear retraction mechanism is operated by that hydraulic system.

Thanks to Alex for the photos and Vasilis for the video

Airbus A320 / F-GHQK / just vacated 03R on D9 and shut down the engines


Airbus A320 / F-GHQK / preparing to be towed to stand A44 for disembarkation and a thorough technical check


Airbus A320 / F-GHQK / during the climb on the missed approach procedure

Continental Airlines flight 84 medical diversion to Athens

Continental Airlines flight 84 from EWR (Newark, New York) to TLV (Tel Aviv, Israel) had to divert to Athens due to a passenger having a medical problem. The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200 registered N78009. The flight passed over Athens at 11:10L heading to TLV cruising at FL370. It then turned back and landed at around 12:20L on runway 03R. An ambulance was waiting at the stand and took the passenger to hospital for further exams and treatment. The plane departed around 13:30L heading to TLV.
Thanks to Alex for the photo

Boeing 777-200 / N78009 / ready to be pushed back from the stand, after the disembarkation of the passenger in need of medical assistance

Condor 6334 emergency diversion to Athens

At around 19:00L (7/3/2009) Condor flight 6334 (calling as CFG 334) from Frankfurt to Dubai had to divert to Athens airport due to a weather radar problem. The plane did a holding over KEA VOR in order to burn some fuel before landing in Athens. 263 passengers and 8 crew members were on board. The aircraft involved is Boeing 757-300 registered D-ABOJ. Another aircraft was ferried to Athens to take the passengers and continue to Dubai. This (ferry) flight was DE 902 (Boeing 757-300 registered D-ABOE). The flight with the passengers departed Athens at 01:00L (8/3/2009) as DE 6334 heading to Dubai. The plane with the emergency (D-ABOJ) left Athens as DE 903 at 03:45L (8/3/2009) heading back to FRA.

Boeing 757-300 / D-ABOJ / the same plane on a previous emergency in Athens when hit by a lighting (19/5/2007)

Emergency diversion of Jet2 2113 in Athens

The flight of Jet2.com 2113 from Manchester (MAN) to Taba, Egypt (TAB) had to divert to Athens due to an emergency on Monday, March 2nd 2009. Captain declared an emergency due to a rapid depressurization. The plane was carrying 183 passengers and 9 crew members. ATC gave priority to this flight and was vectored for landing on runway 21L in Athens. After a safe landing at around 15:30L, a few passengers had to be taken to hospital since they had problems with their ears due to the depressurization. The plane involved is a Boeing 757-200 registered G-LSAA.

Boeing 757-200 / G-LSAA / emergency landing in Athens