Imagine crossing the Atlantic to pick up passengers and take them home, only to find the airport you were landing at had parked trucks across the runway to keep you from landing. Guayaquil Airport
When Ecuador said they would be closing their borders to European countries, one mayor wasn’t playing around.
Here’s helicopter footage of an airport in Ecuador actively blocking their landing strip to keep a rescue flight from Spain from landing at their airport
They did so on the Mayor’s orders. Here’s a walk-through of what’s been happening, with several videos.
Alarming incident at Ecuador's International Airport in Guayaquil today as an @Iberia flight from Spain is denied landing by the mayor @CynthiaViteri6 who ordered the blocking of the runway, utilizing municipal and police vehicles.
Helicopter view of the blocked runway: pic.twitter.com/OZpgqsO5Y9
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
2) This is a video of the fleet of municipal vehicles being sent in by @CynthiaViteri6 to block the runway & deny landing to the flight from Madrid with 11 crew members on board.
Aviation authorities are denouncing the decision to interrupt airport operations as a serious crime. pic.twitter.com/Oc2BuAbIFX
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
3) The @Iberia flight was unable to land in Guayaquil and had to divert to Quito. The coronavirus outbreak was used to justify the blocking of the runway.
This international flight came empty—without passengers—in order to take foreign nationals to their respective countries. pic.twitter.com/Nd2oV2fCbG
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
4) @Iberia flight flew to Quito to land, approximately 50 minutes away. This crew-only, passenger-less @KLM aircraft from Madrid (video below) was also denied landing and diverted to Quito—posing no threat of COVID-19. Travelers will not be able to leave Ecuador for Europe.
5) Mayor @CynthiaViteri6 cited govt emergency measures as Guayas is the Ecuadorean province with the highest # of coronavirus cases.
Way to combat COVID-19. Hundreds of Europeans are now stranded as domestic flights & interprovincial transport are currently totally suspended. pic.twitter.com/SVBZDC0C74
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
6) Ecuador’s Guayaquil Mayor had her people enter an international airport by force in order to send a fleet of vehicles to park down the runway to prevent planes from landing—all in the name of COVID-19 prevention. They made their way in by shoving this security worker. pic.twitter.com/yc55gpqikv
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
7) Following this scandal of international proportions, Cynthia Viteri now claims to have contracted coronavirus. Yesterday, the nation's prosecutor announced an investigation into the events at the airport & Spain is looking to take action against Ecuador https://t.co/xbg5YTo2Em
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
Let’s hope we figure out a resolution to this sickness soon, so we can all get back to our ordinary lives.
Cross-posted with Clashdaily
