Palermo were meant to play Ascoli in Serie B today, but the fixture was moved after their plane was forced to turn back when a window cracked mid-air. ‘You couldn’t even hear anyone breathe during the emergency landing.’
The squad was en route towards the airport in Pescara when just 15 minutes after take-off the pilot warned that the window had been damaged in bad weather and they had to turn back.
“I remember the activation of the emergency landing procedures and the minutes before we managed to touch down back at Punta Raisi. You couldn’t even hear anyone breathe in the cabin, as we were so scared,” confessed President Dario Mirri to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Fortunately, it happened when we were still at quite a low altitude, because if it had been higher, the crack in the window might’ve grown and the situation could’ve been much worse.
“With all his experience, the pilot limited the danger. Once we had landed, he said he’d never seen anything like it in 30 years of flying.”
As the plane was too damaged to repair in that time and there were no other flights scheduled that day, Palermo were stranded in Sicily with no way of reaching the mainland in time.
The Lega Serie B and Ascoli understood the situation and agreed to postpone the Serie B match by 24 hours.
The squad eventually took off in a new plane at 3.50am, having been sent to rest at a nearby hotel for a few hours while the alternative arrangements were made.
Still, the same could not be said for the 222 fans who had arranged to make the trip to Ascoli for the game and found they were unable to attend the rescheduled fixture.
So President Mirri announced that a Palermo jersey will be sent to all those fans who bought a ticket and could not attend.
As for those who did manage to rearrange and be in the stands, Ascoli will reward them with a gift basket of traditional local olives during the half-time break.