Anthony Piovesan
A flight from Rotterdam to Malaga was forced to make a security stopover in Madrid after a passenger managed to bypass airport security and sneak onboard.
The Transavia flight HV5023 departed Rotterdam at 4.20pm on Monday October 3, and instead of landing in Malaga at the scheduled time of 7.10pm, arrived at 11pm.
A spokesperson for the Dutch airline confirmed the incident to the Olive Press.
They said Spanish police arrested the culprit in Madrid after the pilot was alerted about the passenger mid-flight, and made a stopover at Barajas airport.
“The plane was checked in Madrid and continued on the flight to Malaga,” A Transavia spokesperson said.
“An investigation by the Royal Netherlands Military Police should reveal exactly what was going on.”
The Dutch national police force, Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMAR), confirmed the passenger boarded the plane completely unseen.
“As soon as the Marechaussee found out about this, we immediately informed the captain,” a statement read.
“The captain then decided to land in Madrid. The person was taken off board there by the Spanish police.”
KMAR initially thought the passenger was on a different Transavia flight from Rotterdam to Faro in Portugal, forcing that plane to also make an emergency stopover.
“Only at a later moment it turned out to be the flight to Malaga. At that time, however, the plane was already making the stopover at Bordeaux and it was decided to continue this so that the plane could refuel and continue the journey to Faro,” a Transavia spokesperson said.
Policia Nacional in Spain has been contacted for comment.
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