Budget airline jet almost dives into the sea at 300mph, pulling up at the last moment less than 200ft from the surface, just after take-off in Italy

A budget airline jet almost dived into the sea at 300mph just moments after taking off from an Italian holiday island.

Eleven seconds after takeoff from Catania Airport, an Airbus A320 operated by Air Arabia lost altitude and fell through the air, falling to less than 200ft above the water.

The plane then managed to quickly regain altitude and continued the flight from Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily.

The Italian National Agency for Flight Safety (ANSV) has opened an investigation into the ‘serious incident’.

It’s currently unclear why the jet, which had no passengers, two pilots, and four flight attendants on board, operated in such an usual way and at the excessive speed.

The plane was on its way to Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Shortly after takeoff, the ANSV reported that a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) pull-up message was activated, according to Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.   

The GPWS issues alarms when there is a risk of a dangerous collision between the plane and terrain. 

[FILE PHOTO] Eleven seconds after takeoff from Catania Airport, an Airbus A320 operated by Air Arabia lost altitude and fell through the air, falling to less than 200ft above the water

‘This occurred as the aircraft approached the sea surface, to within a short distance,’ the agency continued.

The incident occurred at 11.57pm on September 20, when the plane began an unexpected descent, reaching dangerously close to the water in good weather conditions. 

The situation was immediately considered dangerous but quickly resolved, and the flight reached its destination at 2.52am Italian time with no further incident, according to ANSV.

The agency said it opened an investigation ‘after a preliminary review of the information received from the operator’.

Pilots will be required to recount details of their version of events, which will be cross-referenced with data from onboard systems. 

Possible explanations for the incident include an error in calculating the takeoff weights or a faulty maneuver by the pilots.

In another chilling incident in September, an easyJet plane came within mere feet of a horror crash after another airliner flew directly over it before landing.

A reconstruction of the terrifying incident by flight tracking website Flightradar shows how the incoming Tunisian Nouvelair jet zoomed just 10ft over the grounded easyJet aircraft in Nice Cote d’Azur Airport, before performing a go-around. 

A reconstruction by flight tracking website Flightradar shows how the incoming Tunisian Nouvelair jet zoomed just 10ft over the grounded easyJet aircraft in Nice Cote d’Azur Airport

A separate video shows how the descending Nouvelair plane was forced to abort the landing and perform a go-around manoeuvre as the two jets came incredibly close

A separate video shows how the descending Nouvelair plane was forced to abort the landing as the two jets came incredibly close.

Each airline was carrying around 150 passengers each at the time.

The easyJet plane was just seconds away from take-off at the time of the ordeal, which unfolded after the Nouvelair plane tried to land at the wrong runway, according to local media. 

No injuries were reported, but passengers on-board the airbus described hearing a loud roar as they waited in their seats to depart.

The noise came from the incoming Nouvelair jet – which was forced to apply full power to avoid colliding with the aircraft and causing mass casualties.

One passenger called Sacha, who was onboard the easyJet plane, told local newspaper Nice Matin: ‘We heard a huge noise in the cabin and felt strong vibrations. The Nouvelair plane passed over us, about three meters away according to the pilots’.

A couple onboard the Nouvelair flight who said they ‘almost died’ detailed the horrifying near-miss in a dramatic video which they shared on social platform TikTok.

They described how the pilot suddenly pushed the engines to ‘full throttle’ just seconds before landing, leaving those onboard fearing for their lives.

‘At the last second, the pilot of Nouvelair goes into a go-around: he pushes the engines all the way, and the plane goes back into the sky like in a video game. Everyone on the plane? Screaming, panic, cold sweat’, the couple said.

‘Moral of the story? A quiet flight can turn into an episode of Man vs Destiny in two seconds. Fortunately, last night, it was the pilot who saved the game’, they added.

The Daily Mail contacted Air Arabia for comment.