Spanish King Helps Pope Leo After Plane Malfunction

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• Pope Leo XIV received royal support after a plane malfunction during his trip to Spain.
• King Felipe VI offered the head of the Catholic Church his private jet for the return flight to Rome.
• As a result, Leo and his delegation were able to take off after a delay of more than three hours.
• According to the pilot, the engine on the Iberia plane would not start.

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Spanish King Felipe VI came to the aid of Pope Leo XIV during his trip to Spain following a plane malfunction. On Friday, the monarch offered the head of the Catholic Church his private jet for the return flight to Rome after the Pope’s charter plane experienced a technical problem.

Felipe escorted the Pope from the stranded Iberia charter plane to his Falcon jet at the airport in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. With a delay of more than three hours, Leo and members of his delegation finally took off for Rome.

According to the pilot, the engine could not be started after boarding the Iberia plane. Because attempts to fix the problem failed, all passengers had to disembark the aircraft. Iberia announced that a plane would be sent from Madrid to the Canary Islands to pick up Vatican representatives and journalists who were unable to travel with Leo aboard the presidential aircraft.

The mechanical failure marked an unusual end to an otherwise successful Vatican trip to Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands. Leo advocated for migrants and consecrated the new tower of the Sagrada Família Basilica.

Pope John Paul II also had plane problems

It was the first time in decades that a papal plane had experienced such a major problem that the head of the Church had to switch to another aircraft.

Long-time Vatican reporters on board the trouble-plagued Iberia plane recalled several aircraft problems during the tenure of Pope John Paul II. On his return from a visit to India in 1986, the head of the Church’s plane had to land in Naples because of a snowstorm in Rome. The Pope and other passengers then continued on to Rome by special train.

In 1988, bad weather forced John Paul II’s plane, en route to Lesotho, to land in South Africa. The Pope had excluded this country from his Africa trip at the time due to the apartheid government in power there. John Paul II was then driven to the Kingdom of Lesotho.

It is customary for the Italian airline ITA Airways to fly the Pope to his destination, and for the host country’s national airline to then fly the head of the Church back home.