An Israeli El Al plane that departed from Warsaw, Poland, made an emergency landing in Antalya, Turkey, due to a passenger suffering a medical issue.

The plane needed to refuel to continue its journey to Israel.

However, reports claim Turkish airport authorities refused to refuel the plane.

The incident reportedly forced the jet to fly to Greece to refuel.

“El Al confirms: local workers refused to refuel the company’s plane that landed in Antalya, Turkey after one of the passengers had a medical incident; The plane has now taken off to Rhodes, where it will be refueled before taking off to Israel,” Israeli media reports.

All Israel News reports:

Israeli media reported that a local airport official responsible for refueling demanded written permission for the action. In addition, the passengers were reportedly not allowed to disembark and spent hours on the plane.

Diplomatic officials in Israel said they were in contact with Turkish officials, who reportedly did not object to providing fuel but apparently, a miscommunication continued to prevent it.

Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Irit Lilian was reportedly involved in the talks with senior Turkish officials.

In the end, the ill passenger was led off the plane and taken to a Turkish hospital while conscious and was accompanied by a consular official.

From The Jerusalem Post:

An El Al spokesperson announced that “following the medical incident that occurred on flight LY5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv, and the plane’s landing in Antalya, the passenger was referred for urgent medical treatment.”

“The flight crew prepared for a renewed take-off to Tel Aviv, but local workers refused to refuel the plane, even though it was a medical case. The plane took off to Rhodes, where it will refuel before taking off to Israel.”

KAN reported that the plane had initially received permission to refuel at the Antalya airport, but Turkish political parties delayed this decision on grounds that permits were required to refuel.

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