Man Stops Iberia Flight From Turin To Madrid After Deciding To Stay With Love Of His Life

In the northwestern Italian city of Turin, a man reportedly caused a one-hour delay on an Iberia service to Madrid after he decided to get off the plane at the last minute following a quick phone call with his girlfriend. Last minute indeed, as, per Italian media, the aircraft’s engines were already on as it prepared for takeoff.

Simple Flying understands that the plane in question was a Mitsubishi CRJ-1000 owned by Air Nostrum, operating as Iberia Regional. The movie-like event happened during a routine flight from Turin’s Caselle Airport to Madrid Barajas Airport earlier this week.

“Don’t leave, stay with me in Turin”

These were the words (albeit in Italian) reportedly uttered by the man’s girlfriend, persuading him to get up and stop the flight. According to Corriere, the man screamed:

“Stop everything, I need to get off.”

A simple telephone call that delayed the Iberia service by one hour. The aircraft was already taxiing by this time, when the man got up and screamed the sentence to disembark.

Photo: GCMap.com

According to testimonies reported by the Italian daily, the man and the crew had a discussion after which they decided to let him off due to security concerns. The man was reportedly “nervous and decided [in his desire to disembark].”

Il Riformista reports that the man also held a discussion with other passengers who did not hesitate to underline the inconvenience his actions would have on their flight. Corriere and Turin’s Tgcom24 believe the delay did not produce any particular complaints from the other customers.

A delayed flight yet no fine issued

Simple Flying understands the flight affected was IB8767 on June 20. Accordng to Flightradar24, the aircraft was delayed about one hour (in line with Italian media reports), arriving in Madrid at 15:30. Originally, the aircraft was meant to depart Turin at 12:00, landing in the Spanish capital at around 14:20.

All was running smoothly prior to the phone call, pushing departure by one hour. At 13:02 local time, the plane set off once again for Madrid, taking off ten minutes later.

The aircraft in question was a Mitsubishi CRJ-1000, previously known as a Bombardier CRJ-1000. As reported by Simple Flying at the time, the aircraft program was sold to the Japanese company in 2020.

The CRJ-1000 is an eight-year-old Air Nostrum example, operating as Iberia Regional with the registration EC-MJQ. It has 100 seats and is configured in an all-economy layout.

Despite the disruption, no fine was issued. This is because the passenger asked to disembark prior to takeoff. Turin Airport’s operator, Sagat, said the following:

“Everything happened in complete calmness. Obviously this requires timing. Since it is his right, the passenger was not fined.”

Photo: aappp | Shutterstock

Disruption continued throughout the rest of the day, with the aircraft’s roundtrip to Marseille in the evening departing Madrid later than scheduled. The same outcome was also true for EC-MJQ’s flight to Almeria in the late evening, landing half an hour late at 23:10.

Two airlines offer regular services between Turin and Madrid. Iberia operates a midday flight from Turin every day, while Ryanair also offers several weekly frequencies in the evening.