Turkish airport workers refuse to refuel El Al plane after emergency landing

An El Al flight that had to make an emergency landing in Antalya, Turkey, from Warsaw en route to Tel Aviv was not allowed to refuel. The Turkish workers at Antalya airport refused to refuel flight LY5102 before it could continue its journey to Israel, as El Al mentioned in a statement.

Despite it being a medical emergency, the local workers declined to refuel the plane. The passenger in need of medical attention was safely evacuated. The aircraft then departed for Rhodes, Greece, where it will refuel before heading to Israel, according to the airline. Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed that the plane was permitted to land in an emergency to evacuate the sick passenger.

Although fuel was supposed to be provided for humanitarian reasons, the captain decided to depart before the procedure was completed, as stated by a Turkish diplomatic source. Reports from Hebrew media indicated that the Foreign Ministry was given assurances by Turkish authorities that refueling would be allowed, but it did not materialize. Since the plane was using fuel on the ground to maintain air conditioning and other systems, it was necessary to depart for Rhodes, which is a short 40-minute flight away, to refuel before the situation became critical.

The plane was scheduled to land at Ben-Gurion Airport later that Sunday. Passengers were informed that they might have to stay on the ground in Turkey for several hours without being allowed to disembark, as reported by Hebrew media sources.