Pilots of a chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans faked
the need to make an emergency landing in Peru so that passengers
could watch their nation's team play a key match. The plane,
claiming to be low on fuel, landed in Peru's northern coast
city of Piura, where Gambia played Qatar in the FIFA Under-17
World Championships later that night. The fans were allowed to
watch the soccer game in Piura, which Gambia won 3-1. The fans
apparently would have been late or missed the game if the flight
had first gone to its scheduled destination of Lima, 550 miles to
the south. “It truly was a scam,” said Betty Maldonado,
a spokeswoman for Peru's aviation authority, CORPAC.
“They tricked the control tower, saying they were low on
fuel.”