The Airbus A320 aircraft in Italy suffered a ‘serious incident’ shortly after the plane took off from Sicily’s Catania AirportLee Grimsditch Nostalgia Writer, Anders Anglesey News Reporter and Bethany Gavaghan Under 35s writer
12:11, 19 Oct 2025
An Airbus A320-214 from Air Arabia (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A budget airline aircraft plunged towards the sea at 300mph moments after departure as the Airbus A320 in Italy experienced a “serious incident” shortly after taking off from Sicily’s Catania Airport. The Air Arabia plane had left the island’s airport at 9.57pm on September 20 when a “Ground Proximity Warning System pull-up message” was triggered.
The aircraft had been bound for Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan when the incident occurred, according to a statement from the Italian aviation accident investigation agency. The agency revealed the pull-up alert “occurred as the aircraft approached the sea surface, reaching a short distance from it”.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24 these messages “are vital safety systems in modern aircraft that are designed to prevent collisions with terrain or obstacles and were designed to prevent Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents”.
The aviation accident agency confirmed in a statement: “The flight continued without further incident.
“There were no passengers on board, and two pilots and four cabin crew members were present,” reports the Mirror. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
Catania city and Etna view(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“After a preliminary review of the information received from the operator ANSV opened a safety investigation, classifying the event as a serious incident.”
The aircraft came perilously close to the sea, about 200ft away, travelling at just under 300mph, according to Italian news source la Repubblica Palermo.
The weather conditions at the time of the incident are yet to be confirmed by the outlet.
The plane successfully landed at around 2.52am local time on September 21.