Published 7 days ago • loading... • Updated 5 days ago

Budget Airliner Hurtles Towards Sea at 300mph Seconds After Take Off

On 20 September 2025 at 21.57 UTC, shortly after takeoff from Catania Airport, an Air Arabia Airbus A320 bound for Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan, flew dangerously close to the Mediterranean Sea.
After a preliminary review, Italian aviation authority ANSV opened a safety investigation and classified the event as a serious incident; two Airbus A320 captains suggested possible causes including a bird strike or an error in calculating takeoff weights.
According to reports, the aircraft dropped to about 200 feet above the sea at speeds over 480 kilometres per hour, triggering the Ground Proximity Warning System's pull-up alert.
ANSV said the flight continued without further incident, with no passengers on board and two pilots and four cabin crew landing at approximately 2:52am local time on 21 September.
One outlet reported the sequence occurred in good weather conditions, following recent related incidents, while Flightradar24 noted GPWS messages prevent controlled flight into terrain.

Insights by Ground AI

11 Articles

Plane plummets towards sea at 300mph just seconds after take

The Airbus A320 aircraft in Italy suffered a 'serious incident' shortly after the plane took off from Sicily's Catania Airport

5 days ago·Wales, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

Chronicle Live

Reposted by

Daily Mirror

Center

Budget airliner hurtles towards sea at 300mph seconds after take off

The Airbus A320 aircraft in Italy suffered a "serious incident" shortly after the plane took off from Sicily's Catania Airport

6 days ago·Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

Manchester Evening News

Center

Budget airline plane plummets towards sea moments after take off

The Airbus A320 aircraft in Italy suffered a "serious incident" shortly after the plane took off from Sicily's Catania Airport

6 days ago·Manchester, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

The Independent

Lean Left

Investigation launched after plane veers dangerously close to the sea after takeoff

A pull-up warning message was triggered after the plane leaving Catania airport flew dangerously close to the sea

6 days ago·London, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

Daily Record

Lean Left

Air Arabia flight hurtles towards sea at 300mph seconds after take off

The plane reached about 200 feet from the sea, according to local media reports.

6 days ago·Glasgow, United Kingdom

Read Full Article

Hot News

Lean Left

“Great Accident” a Low-Cost Plane Flew to the Sea Nearly 500 Km/h After Landing From an Airport in Italy. It Then Returned - hotnews.ro

A low-cost aircraft from Air Arabia lost altitude immediately after landing at Catania Airport, reaching a altitude of about 60 metres above sea level and at a speed of...

7 days ago·Romania

Read Full Article

Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/year