A plane carrying the Archbishop of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jos Punt, and several other passengers to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa made an emergency landing in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik today after the pilots detected smoke in one of the aircraft’s engines.
RKK reported that Bishop Jos Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam, Deacon Fennis, and diocese spokesman Wim Peeters were heading for Ethiopia to attend the Baptism of the Lord (Timket).
According to Peeters the airplane made a few loops over the Adriatic Sea and the pilot then decided to make an emergency landing in Croatia. The pilot had “two of the four engines off. Therefore it seemed as if we were floating. Everyone held his breath. We obviously have said some prayers.
The trio arrived Wednesday morning in Addis Ababa. The Catholics were at the so-called Timket celebrations, the Ethiopian version of the commemoration of the baptism of Christ.
Bishop Punt, Fennis and traveling press secretary will fly later this week to Kenya to visit a number of projects run by the diocese.