Passengers, crew all safe after Ben Gurion Airport emergency landing

All 170 passengers and crew members were safe and injury free after Greek charter plane made emergency landing.

By SHARON UDASIN
Plane at Ben Gurion emergency370 (photo credit: Magen David Adom, Courtesy)
Plane at Ben Gurion emergency370
(photo credit: Magen David Adom, Courtesy)
All 170 passengers and crew members were uninjured when a Greek charter plane made an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday at noon, the Israel Airports Authority reported.
The Airbus, flight HRM 7332 from Crete to Tel Aviv, likely experienced a hydraulic glitch in its steering system, causing the airport ground crew to declare a State of Emergency Level 2 prior to the emergency landing, the IAA said. Shmuel Zaki, the manager of Ben-Gurion Airport, oversaw the emergency preparations from the facility’s Ramon tower and closed Israel’s airspace – directing planes on their way here to land at alternative sites.
Meanwhile, after receiving a call at 11:37 a.m., Magen David Adom emergency crews rushed to the airport from the Yarkon, Gush Dan, Ayalon, Lachish and Jerusalem regions to await the plane’s landing, with dozens of motorcycles, ambulances and mobile intensive care units, the emergency organization said. In addition to IAA and MDA crews, teams from the IDF’s Home Front Command as well as the Israel Police and the Israel Fire and Rescue Services also prepared themselves at the airport.
“The regular training exercises of the MDA with the security and rescue forces of the State of Israel proved again today that within minutes of receiving news of the emergency situation at Ben-Gurion Airport, dozens of mobile intensive care units and ambulances arrived and were prepared to provide care and address any possible scenario,” said MDA director-general Eli Bin.
By 12:15 p.m., the pilot had completed the landing operation safely, and the emergency situation was canceled, an MDA report said. The plane drove to the end of the airport runway and the pilot shut down the engine, while the firefighting crew cooled the wheel system, IAA explained. A few minutes later, ground crews led the plane by trailer to the parking area, and the passengers were transferred to Terminal 3 of the airport, the authority added.
The plane in question belonged to Hermes Airlines, a Greek charter airline that is a subsidiary of the French company Air Méditerranée.