On May 24, 2025, 137 passengers and six crew members boarded an Airbus A320 for flight DE1234 from Zurich, Switzerland to Heraklion, Greece. Many of the passengers were anticipating a relaxing, fun-filled vacation in Heraklion, which is on the beautiful island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Vacationers planned to visit any number of famous beaches, the Archaeological Museum, and the ancient Palace of Knossos.
They just had to get there first.
The flight was supposed to depart at 6:20 a.m. and routinely took about 2 hours and 55 minutes, but this was not a routine flight from the beginning. After a short delay, the jet took off at 6:51 a.m. and flew its usual route to the southeast. Two hours into the flight, the pilot began the jet’s descent as they passed over Athens, Greece.
As they neared the idyllic Greek isle, winds buffeted the jet. The turbulence worsened exponentially as they descended. The turbulence was such that some of the passengers became nauseous and some vomited. Air Traffic Control told the pilot that the winds were too strong to land at the moment. The pilot had no choice but to pull up and circle around the airport until the winds died down.
When the pilot announced the delay to the cabin, a few people groaned, but most of the passengers were relieved to be out of the turbulence. The pilot and co-pilot watched their fuel gauges carefully to ensure that if the wind did not subside, they had enough fuel to make it to another airport to refuel. After circling for nearly an hour, that time had come.
Despite groans from the passengers, the pilot aimed the A320 to Athens, Greece. The jet landed safely at the Greek capital after a three-and-a-half-hour flight. Standard airline practice is not to top off the fuel tanks, but to add enough fuel plus a little reserve to make it to the intended destination to reduce the risk of fire in case of an emergency landing.
After refueling, flight DE1234 departed from Athens at 1:50 p.m. and flew towards Heraklion. The flight should have taken about 45 minutes. Just as before, turbulence buffeted the plane horrendously as it descended and the pilot was forced to climb into a circling pattern. Again, passengers had become nauseous and some vomited.
The pilot and co-pilot, always aware of the fuel gauges, circled as long as they could, but the wind had not subsided. This time, the pilot diverted the jet to the island of Kos, Greece, about 55 minutes to the northwest. Once the jet was refueled, flight DE1234 departed KOS, but did not fly southwestward toward their original destination of Heraklion. The wind at Heraklion still had not subsided and the flight crew had nearly exhausted the allotted time that they could fly. They were legally required to get some sleep.
Condor airlines determined that Thessaloniki, Greece, was the best place for the crew and passengers to spend the night. The passengers groaned as they learned they would not make it to their destination on that date, but what could they do? The pilot aimed the A320 to the northwest and, after a flight of just over an hour, the jet landed in Thessaloniki without incident about 11 hours after they first departed Zurich.
On the following morning, flight DE1234 with its 137 passengers and 6 crew members departed Thessaloniki for Heraklion. Once again, severe weather prevented them from landing and, after circling for a prolonged length of time, the jet was diverted to Athens to refuel.
At 1:24 p.m., the jet departed from Athens. An hour and 20 minutes later, the jet landed in perfect weather, but not at its originally intended destination of Heraklion. After two days in the jet, after five takeoffs and landings, 32 hours after they departed Zurich, the airline brought the passengers back to Zurich.
They were right back where they started.