Unplanned stopover for Transavia flight to Malaga after Russian woman sneaked aboard

On Monday, a Transavia flight from Rotterdam to Malaga made an unplanned stopover in Madrid because a passenger had slipped into the plane unseen. The Russian woman behaved oddly on the plane, speaking about human trafficking and asking to speak to an ambassador, AD reports.

The Spanish police disembarked the woman and questioned her. The authorities also checked the plane’s luggage rack for the possible presence of items that did not go through the airport security in Rotterdam. The Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for airport security, and Transavia confirmed the situation to AD.

After the stopover in Madrid, the plane’s captain told passengers that a Russian woman had boarded the plane in Rotterdam without a ticket. The woman allegedly put luggage on the belt at the security check and then pressed an emergency button. That brought everything to a standstill and caused consternation. When everyone was distracted, she sneaked onto the platform and boarded the nearest plane unnoticed.

That was the Transavia plane to Malaga, which took off at around 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The plane departed Madrid again just after 10:00 p.m., continuing to Malaga.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee confirmed to AD that a “passenger entered the platform unseen and boarded a plane” and that the plane took off with her on board. “As soon as the Marechaussee noticed this, we immediately informed the captain. The captain decided to land in Madrid. The person was taken off board there by the Spanish police,” a spokesperson said to AD. “The Marechaussee is investigating.”

The Marechaussee was initially not certain which plane the woman boarded and also contacted a Transavia flight from Rotterdam to Faro, Portugal. “We initially received information from the Marechaussee that there would be a passenger on that flight who did not belong there. That is why that plane was preparing for a stopover in Bordeaux. When it turned out that it was another flight, that landing had already progressed so far that it was eventually made. But now the plane has landed in Faro,” a Transavia spokesperson said to AD.