On board the Iberia Airways flight taking Pope Leo XIV from Tenerife back to Rome, the captain made an announcement. A technical problem had been discovered, and the plane wasn’t able to take off. Moments later the pope and some of his entourage left the aircraft.
I was one of the roughly 80 journalists on board travelling with the pope for his June 6-12 visit to Spain, and we were flying on an Iberia Airways flight back to Rome. When he travels, the pope uses a regular plane, and flies out using an ITA aircraft, while the host country often provides the plane on the way back.
The journalists travelling with the pope sit at the back of the plane, while the pope,…