MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lufthansa flight makes emergency landing in Rosario

A Boeing 747 in Rosario is a rare occurrence

The comparably small “Islas Malvinas” Airport in Fisherton, outside the Argentine city of Rosario, was shocked Tuesday when a Lufthansa Boeing 747-830 landed there amid numerous shiftings to alternate destinations with Buenos Aires' air terminals closed due to heavy rains.

Flight DLH510 from Frankfurt was bringing 353 travelers and a crew of 19 to Ezeiza when a last-minute decision was required because one passenger reportedly needed urgent medical assistance. Rosario was the nearest airport close to an urban area with proper sanitary facilities, it was explained.

The presence of a Boeing 747 drew the attention of local aviation spotters. Only a few four-engine passenger jets are operating worldwide including the even larger Airbus A-380, but the US-built Jumbo Jet will forever remain the “Queen of the Skies” after the first versions were launched in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

After this and many other minor air travel incidents, the Argentine capital dawned Wednesday to a scenario very similar to that of Tuesday - flight delays and cancellations due to bad weather. Ezeiza International Airport issued a red alert and canceled all operations as of 7 am while the Jorge Newbery Airport in downtown Buenos Aires feared further spacing between flights would be adopted as a precaution, which would bring down the take-offs and landings ratio to add to Tuesday's complications when both terminals were closed for several hours and dozens of flights were either canceled, delayed or diverted.