Flight from Spain makes emergency landing at US airbase on tiny Atlantic Ocean island

A small island in the Atlantic Ocean is home to a flight that lands on an emergency basis at a US airbase after a flight from Spain.

Louise Brown July 11, 2025 Travel Leave a comment

Nearly 300 passengers were stranded for a full day on an island in the Atlantic Ocean after a Delta flight from Madrid had to make an emergency landing.

On Sunday, 282 passengers and thirteen crew members were aboard Delta Flight 127, which was flying from Spain’s capital Madrid to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Airbus A330 had to land on Terciera Island within the Azores Archipelago. This remote group of volcanic islands is administered by Portugal.

The plane was diverted from the original destination to Lajes. This town is home to a US air force base.

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After a mechanical problem, the Delta flight had to make an emergency landing. Credit: Wikimedia.com

Passengers were forced to spend over 29 hours on the remote island – home to just over 50,000 people – after what a Delta spokesperson described as an ‘indication of a mechanical issue with an engine’.

The spokesperson said, “The flight landed successfully and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay they experienced.”

The airline confirmed it would offer compensation to customers affected by the divert.

On arrival on the island, the passengers received accommodation and food for the night.

Travel News by The Olive Press.