El Al flight 5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv was flying over Turkey today when a passenger got sick and the flight declared a medical emergency. The plane landed in Antalya, Turkey at 3:05pm local time to drop off the passenger.
No flights have operated between Israel and Turkey since October 7th and service is suspended indefinitely.
Last month, Turkey announced a ban on all trade with Israel. President Erdogan also said last month that over 1,000 Hamas members were being treated in Turkish hospitals, though a Turkish official later clarified that he meant Gazans rather than members of Hamas. Perhaps Erdogan knows something that most of the world doesn’t realize and said the quiet part out loud?
Local officials in Turkey refused to refuel the El Al flight, but the diversion meant that the flight couldn’t make it back to Tel Aviv safely.
After waiting on the ground for more than 3 hours trying to obtain fuel for the flight, the plane just flew to Rhodes, Greece, where it will refuel and then finally make its way back to Tel Aviv.
El Al provided the following statement to DansDeals,
“Following a medical incident that occurred on flight LY5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv, the flight landed in Antalya, Turkey and the passenger was removed from the plane for urgent medical treatment.
The flight crew prepared to continue its flight to TLV, but local workers refused to refuel the El Al plane, even though it had landed due to a medical emergency.
The plane took off to Rhodes, where it will refuel before continuing to Israel.
We would like to emphasize that El Al puts the health and safety of its passengers as a top priority.”
Did Turkey violate international law by refusing to refuel the diverted flight? Either way, I’m going to guess that El Al won’t be diverting again inside Turkey anytime soon…
What do you make of this incident?
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78 Comments On "Turkey To Diverted El Al Flight: No Fuel For You!"
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Did they provide Medical assistance?
If they didn’t it would be a much bigger news story
Regular anti semites no news
Disgusted but not surprised.
Poor passenger. Hope they give the care he/she needs.
They/them
Please don’t bring the filth of the generation of the flood to this kosher platform.
The meme says it all!
Just like Moav who refused to sell any necessities to the Jews leaving Egypt.
I feel bad for the passenger that needs to be treated in such a friendly country. HaShem Yishmor
Glad they didn’t divert to Tehran!
Turkey constantly treats their alleged ally and NATO Partner Greece with disrespect. Doesn’t surprise me that Erdogan and his government did this to an Israeli airline. He is doing everything he can to turn back the clock hundreds of years and acts like he’s the crowned sultan.
Turkey’s enmity towards Greece is far older than its enmity towards the Jews.
The crowned sultan was much more respectful to the Jews. Erdogan is loosing popularity and whenever he wants to improve his image with the increasing pro Arab populous he does an antisemitic action which brings his numbers back up. He wishes he was a sultan but he is just a want to be little worm.
Muslims do not consider human life something worth preserving
Source?
The Koran
Chapter and verse?
Sura 5:33,9:5. To name a few…
Isaiah 13:9-16
Don’t buy Turkish goods and services.
At least not until they change their attitude towards Israel.
I’m going to avoid all the necessities I get from Turkey. What exactly do they actually make by the way?
Rahat lukum (turkish delight), Turkish Airlines, etc.
Lots of dried fruit imported to the US.
Not saying I’m better then and else, but we just discarded all the extra Turkish salad from Shabbat…..
& stop eating Turkey…
Two questions.
Why would ElAl allow the pilot to land in Turkey?
And why did they desperately need extra fuel? Turkey was on the way on Israel, so you’d think they would have more than enough to make it home without having to stop by Rhodes
Could be it needed to dump fuel to land safely since it was fueled for a longer flight.
Fuel is very heavy to carry. Therefore airlines routinely fly with just about enough fuel to cover their route plus a bit extra for safety. Flying at high altitude is much more economical. Landing and taking off uses way more fuel than say circling and doubtlessly necessitated replenishment to maintain safe amounts.
Plus: El Al ain’t stupid
Per another article, they were burning fuel keeping the plane running and AC on in the runway. They couldn’t wait forever for the Turks to get to work.
Was this refusal within the bounds of International Law?
Yeah… like the International Court would help. they’d give them a medal.
Shouldn’t have landed in Turkey in the first place. They’re an enemy country.
Despicable and disgusting to put it mildly
We should all boycott Turkey and no one should fly Turkish Airlines. There is no need to give money to the enemy.
One thing for sure – stop advertising Turk Air. No matter how cheap it is and how many suitcases it gives.
I just spilled out the cup of strong Turkish coffee that I was sipping and am currently brewing myself an Americano!
And throw out that leftover piece of turkey in the fridge while your at it as well!
What does Türkiye have to do with turkey?
Was it “local officials” who refused to refuel the plane, or “local workers” as El Al says? How many employees run the refueling operation at Antalya, and how strong is their union? Should the Canadian government be blamed for not permitting WestJet planes to help celebrate the national holiday?
Turkish Air used to be my airline of choice. (2 free bags). No more.
Turkey may be more dangerous than Iran. At least everyone knows that Iran is ruled by Islamic extremists. Most of the world thinks that Turkey is moderate but their president is as much of an Islamic extremist as the Ayatollah. Until he goes, they should be viewed in the same light as Iran.
The world has done nothing to help the Iranian people in the case that over 80% of them want to get rid of their evil dictatorship regime. They will care about Turkey? I think though more are starting to hate Erdogan but it’s about 50/50 last I checked.
Ego-Juan will be dust soon enough.
The person that got sick chose the wrong day to get sick. They put everyone else in danger
Yeah! Blame the victims!
I blame the individual flying when he is sick
I hope you’re kidding. People can be sick without knowing it, they could get sick from something they ate at the airport or on the plane, they could have a severe allergic reaction to airborne particles from someone else’s food, they could get injured on the plane or suffer a stroke or heart attack. But yeah go ahead and blame the victim.
I notice the sarcasm. Accurate statement that we don’t know the severity of the medical emergency. However, flying an Israeli airline over enemy territory, if the sick individual was able to survive an extra amount of time to land in Israel or a country accepting of Jews/Israelis then that’s rather critical. Imagine having a medical emergency while flying over North Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela. I would think that in most cases the sick individual would somehow be capable or staying well enough until they are able to land in a first world country. Unfortunately the sick individual likely received poor medical treatment in Turkey (and he was left there), while risking danger for the fellow passengers. Zero sarcasm on my part!
” I would think that in most cases the sick individual would somehow be capable or staying well enough until they are able to land in a first world country”
I would think that El Al pilots would be able to assess the information they have and determine when it’s a real emergency.
What danger?
What danger?
will LY file a complaint with IATA? what are the IATA rules around refueling?
Stop trying to fix people. Pray For Gods protection. And stop being so much the nations and God wont have to create separation.
There were flights at least shortly after October 7th, I flew on Pegasus about a week later via Istanbul to another country, though I was not particularly happy about it (even though I had a lovely experience as an Israeli in Istanbul a year or 2 earlier) I remember being shocked seeing a teen or young adult wearing a tsahal sweatshirt in the airport, presumably they were also just transiting but with madman Erdogan in power, at such a time…
Agree with comments to STOP PATRONIZING TURKISH AIR. DEAL OR NO DEAL.
Israel was among the first countries to send aid to Turkey after the February 6, 2023 earthquake in southern Turkey.
I understood the situation a bit differently. After making an emergency landing the flight crew asked for a refuel and were constantly postponed. The captain was unable to disembark passengers since Turkey would not let them, therefore he had to keep the engines running. At a certain point he realized he could keep waiting for fuel or make the decision to fly to Greece. After waiting the maximum amount of time and getting the run around, he decided to fly to Greece to refuel. It doesn’t make Turkey completely innocent but it does give them an excuse for international/aviation law such that they can claim that they were going to do it, but elal decided to leave before they could refuel. It’s a sly way to work but it provides them with a loophole. I am curious why the pilot didn’t decide to go to Cyprus instead — I’m sure next time they will. More/most importantly, I hope the I’ll passenger is OK.
in other words they waited over 3 hours (3:05pm-6:18pm) just in order to complete the remaining 1.5 hour flight from AYT to Tel Aviv! ?
sounds interesting………….
Turks don’t allow direct flight to greek Cyprus
the flight distance from Antalya to Tel Aviv is only 90 minutes.
Just imagine how short they where in fuel!!!
They probably would’ve stuck a turkish banana in the gas tank anyway.
Or Turkish coffee
What happened to the passenger? Did they also refuse to treat him/her??
Please boycott the Turkish airlines so I can enjoy the award space myself and for family and while you are on it, so the same for Qatar. I love some qsuites
Is it safe to fly Turkish Airlines?
Would love an update on how the passenger is doing.
Some people care more about their FF status unfortunately
BAN THANKSGIVING! No more turkey for me!
I get the vibe of starbucks employees refusing to sell products to a police officer and then chuckling to themselves how they beat the system. It feels almost as lame here with these ground workers not getting around to delivering fuel because they wanted to make some sort of statement (which no one knows what it is).
boycott anything from Turkey. Grab the popcorn and watch how Erdogan goes down!
I ,for one, will never bowl a turkey ever again!
How ’bout El AL taking Turkey to the ICJ?!
why didnt they just divert to rhodes in the first case its literally a few min from antalya
America is still going to celebrate turkey day in November.
its truly not ok, but what more can you expect from a country that openly hates isreal, and cut off with them, in el al statement “We would like to emphasize that El Al puts the health and safety of its passengers as a top priority.”
landing a plane in turkey now, isnt putting safety a top priority, we have to celabrate that no other harm was done…..
thousands of Jewish people used to fly Turkish Airlines to Tel Aviv thru Turkey and I’m sure Erdogan charged for this. let’s not make this mistake again
What happened to the sick passenger that was left behind?