No Verified Evidence That Pope Leo XIV's Plane Suffered an Engine Failure in Tenerife

A story has been circulating that an Iberia Airlines flight carrying Pope Leo XIV — the papal name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost after his election in May 2025 — suffered an engine failure at Santa Cruz de Tenerife airport. Based on all available evidence, this claim cannot be verified, and the complete absence of any credible reporting strongly suggests it did not happen as described.

The Aviation Safety Network, which tracks aviation incidents globally, has no record of such an event in its publicly available database. This is significant. Engine failures at major airports — especially on flights carrying a head of state or religious leader — are routinely logged, investigated, and reported.

Iberia Airlines has issued no statement or press release acknowledging any such incident. Airlines are required to report serious technical events to aviation authorities, and a failure involving a high-profile passenger would almost certainly prompt a public response. None exists.

Catholic News Agency and other outlets that closely follow papal movements have also published nothing about this incident. Pope Leo XIV's election in May 2025 made him one of the most watched figures in the world. Any genuine emergency involving his aircraft would have triggered wall-to-wall international news coverage within minutes. The silence across every major outlet is itself strong evidence the event did not occur.

Stories like this spread because they are hard to immediately disprove — absence of evidence feels less satisfying than a confident denial. If you encounter dramatic claims about public figures, check whether major wire services like Reuters or AP have reported it. If they haven't, treat the claim with serious skepticism.