Airliner fakes emergency to watch football

massagelondon · Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 83

I always knew that there is nothing good about an obsession with football:

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans
pretended it needed to make an emergency landing so they could watch
their team compete in the FIFA Under 17 World Championships, officials
said Wednesday.

The plane, claiming to be low on fuel, landed Tuesday near the stadium
in Peru's northern coast city of Piura.

"It truly was a scam," said Betty Maldonado, a spokeswoman for Peru's
aviation authority, CORPAC. "They tricked the control tower, saying
they were low on fuel."

Emergency crews were scrambled ahead of the unscheduled landing by the
Lockhead L1011 Tri-Star, owned by Air Rum Ltd., Maldonado said.

The Air Rum plane, which she said was chartered by Gambian President
Yahya Jammeh, should have made its approach to the capital, Lima, but
instead flew directly to Piura, entering Peruvian air space "without
permission."

The passengers were permitted to attend African team's 3-1 victory
over Qatar on Tuesday night, she added, but the plane remained in
Piura on Wednesday while authorities determined what penalty, if any,
to levy against the airline.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/21/fake.emergency.ap