TAP flight to Boston makes emergency landing in Azores, third incident in four days
The Airbus A321 declared a general emergency over the Atlantic on Sunday, landing at Lajes airbase roughly two hours after takeoff from Lisbon. It follows a depressurisation scare on a Brazil-bound flight the previous day and an engine fault on Thursday.
Sunday's mid-Atlantic diversion
TAP Air Portugal flight TP217, an Airbus A321 en route from Lisbon to Boston, declared a general emergency over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft had departed Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport at 12:17 local time. Around 14:40, roughly two hours into the journey, the crew squawked code 7700, the international transponder signal for an onboard emergency, and diverted to Lajes airbase on Terceira Island in the Azores. The unscheduled landing took place at approximately 16:15.
TAP confirmed the diversion in a statement, describing it as a precautionary measure.
The flight TP217, which departed Lisbon bound for Boston, made an unscheduled stop in Terceira, as a precaution, to assess a technical issue. The flight will continue to its final destination as soon as possible.
The airline did not disclose the nature of the technical problem.
A weekend of disruptions
The Sunday incident came less than 24 hours after another TAP flight was forced to return to Lisbon. On Saturday, an Airbus A330 operating the Lisbon-Curitiba route declared an emergency following what were described as problems with the pressurisation system. The aircraft, cruising at around 30,000 feet, executed a steep descent to 10,000 feet, the altitude considered safe when cabin pressure is compromised. Before landing, the plane spent about an hour and a half jettisoning fuel, and the landing at Humberto Delgado Airport was completed safely.
Earlier, on Thursday, an Airbus A320neo bound for Bissau returned to Lisbon shortly after takeoff due to a failure in the oil pressure of one of its engines. That aircraft also landed without incident.
TAP's response
Across all three events, TAP has characterised the diversions as precautionary and has not provided detailed technical explanations. The company's statement on the Boston flight emphasised that the stop was made "to assess a technical issue" and that the journey would resume as soon as possible. No injuries have been reported in any of the incidents, and all landings were carried out without further complications.
Pattern of incidents
The cluster of three diversions in four days involves three different aircraft types: an A321, an A330, and an A320neo. There is no indication from the airline or aviation authorities of a common cause linking the events. The incidents have drawn attention to TAP's operational reliability during the peak summer travel season, though the airline has not announced any fleet-wide inspections or schedule adjustments.
- Lisbon-Bissau flight returns after engine oil pressure failure
- Lisbon-Curitiba flight depressurises, returns to Lisbon
- Lisbon-Boston flight diverts to Terceira after mid-Atlantic emergency
The Portuguese carrier has faced scrutiny over maintenance practices in the past, but the current sequence of events remains under investigation. Aviation safety protocols require thorough technical assessments after any emergency declaration, and the Portuguese aviation authority typically reviews such occurrences.
