Plane flies over Iraqi airspace amid Iran’s missile attack on Israel, Air France opens investigation

The Air France plane AF662, which connected the 1^Ahem In October, Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) airport from Paris to Dubai was flying over Iraqi territory at the time when the Iranian missile attack on Israel began. The airline announced on Wednesday, October 9, that it had opened a “internal investigation” regarding this device overview.

“The 1^Ahem In October, information identified an upcoming attack on Israel by Iran with the delivery of ballistic missiles. Consequently, and without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France has decided to suspend the flights of its aircraft over the country’s airspace from 5:00 p.m. (universal time). [soit 19 heures, heure de Paris] »is written in a company press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Air France specifies that, on that day, its flight AF662 “I was flying over southern Iraq when the Iranian attack began, around 4:45 pm universal time. It left the country’s airspace shortly before 5:00 p.m. Iraqi airspace was not officially closed by local authorities until 5:56 pm universal time.”is specified.

Flying over authorized but limited airspace

The press release recalls that Air France planes “We were already avoiding Israeli, Lebanese and Iranian airspace” and so? “The overflight of Iraqi airspace was limited to a specific corridor used by all airlines”. A company spokesperson told AFP that“an internal investigation[vait] been open about this event ».

Ballistic missiles travel at higher altitudes than airliners. But, according to LCI, the pilots of flight AF662 “I saw the missiles [du] cabin »information on which Air France did not want to comment.

Interrogated by LCI, Laurent Veque, a member of the office of the National Union of Airline Pilots, declared: “The facts are established and known, the plane was found in this Iraqi corridor in the midst of the hostilities unleashed by Iran against Israel. » “We must shed light (…) Surely today the health, safety and working conditions commission (CSSCT) will be contacted, we want to know what happened”he added.

Iran reported launching two hundred missiles at Israel on 1^Ahem October, following the death, on September 27, of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by an Israeli missile in the southern suburbs of Beirut, at the same time as an Iranian general. According to Tehran, 90% reached their target, while the Israeli army claimed that a large number had been intercepted.