A plane that left Málaga-Costa del Sol airport for Stuttgart had to return on Saturday due to a possible landing gear failure. The crew activated the Pan-Pan code and landed safely on runway 12.
The airport of Málaga-Costa del Sol experienced an emergency situation on Saturday with a flight that had to return shortly after takeoff. The plane, bound for Stuttgart (Germany), reported a possible problem with the landing gear and requested to return to the aerodrome.
The crew activated the Pan-Pan code, an international radio signal indicating urgency but not imminent danger, unlike the Mayday code, which is reserved for critical situations. With this call, the plane requested priority and assistance for landing.
According to the official account of Air Traffic Controllers on social media platform X, the control tower reserved runway 12 exclusively for the landing of the affected aircraft and redirected the rest of the traffic to runway 13.
“Thus, in case of runway blockage, the airport can operate departures and landings on the same runway 13. While we operate with single runway 13, we must space out the arrival traffic through holds,” explain the Air Traffic Controllers.
The manoeuvre allowed the plane to land without incidents and quickly clear the runway. After inspecting the runway and confirming that everything was in order, the airport returned to the south configuration with both runways operational, according to the controllers.
“When the crew is ready, we position them for a direct approach to runway 12, landing and clearing the runway without incidents. Immediately, the runway inspection is carried out and, with everything OK, we return to the south configuration with two operational runways,” they conclude.
The incident did not cause any injuries or material damage, and the airport's operations were restored normally after the inspection. Passengers on the affected flight had to wait for the incident to be resolved before continuing their journey.
Such alerts are common in commercial aviation and are activated when the crew detects an anomaly that requires priority attention, although it does not pose an immediate risk to safety.
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