On December 11, nine passengers on an Air Arabia plane that had made an emergency landing at Palma Airport were arrested for causing an altercation. On Monday, a court of instruction dismissed the case, the judge having concluded that it had not been proven that the nine had committed a crime of public disorder.
The prosecutor requested the dismissal of the proceedings because there was only a generic charge against the suspects. Moreover, the judicial investigation could not continue as the crew's identities were unknown; these had not been provided by the airline.
The plane was on a flight from Rabat to Istanbul when a request for an emergency landing in Palma was made. The request was made at 8.07pm, and the plane landed ten minutes later. A 32-year-old woman had gone into labour. Medical services boarded the plane, and the woman was subsequently taken to Son Llàtzer Hospital.
By now it was around quarter past nine. Half an hour later the plane began taxiing to continue the flight. However, it stopped because of a possibility that the crew had exceeded their working hours. This matter was resolved, but as the plane was about to take off, the altercation between passengers and members of the crew broke out.
The plane's captain aborted the take-off and contacted security. Guardia Civil officers boarded the plane and interviewed the captain and crew. They were told that certain passengers had acted violently, had made threats, and had failed to follow instructions. Seven men and two women were arrested for public disorder and removed from the plane, which finally took off at 11.25pm.