A Spanair plane that took off from Lanzarote airport bound for Valencia with 151 passengers on board, had to return to the island to evacuate a sick child, 45 minutes into the flight, when the child began having seizures, as reported by the company.

The child was initially dealt with on board by the crew of the flight JK5551, but soon required the assistance of a doctor who was travelling on the plane, according to the deputy director of Institutional Relations and Communication Spanair Javier Ortega Figueiral.

Having examined the child, the doctor suggested that it would be more advisable to go back to the airport of origin to seek medical assistance. The pilot immediately contacted flight controllers at Lanzarote, advising that they had an emergency on board and would be returning to the airport.

As the plane landed, an ambulance was already waiting and a medical team took the sick child to hospital for treatment, along with the parents and the brother of the child.

After refueling, the Spanair flight took off again at 13:00, this time with 147 passengers on board, with an expected arrival time of 16:45, a delay of almost 2 hours.