A French civilian plane crossing a sky full of missiles? This is what happened on October 1 during Iran’s attack on Israel. As revealed by TF1 Info, Air France flight AF662 from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle to Dubai flew over Iraq that afternoon, while missiles fired by the Islamic Republic flew over the country. A high risk situation. According to our colleagues, the pilots “saw the missiles from the cockpit”, missiles that fortunately operated at a higher altitude.
How did this device get to this area at the time of the attack? Air France offers explanations. “Without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France decided to suspend the flights of its aircraft over the country’s airspace from 5:00 p.m. universal time (i.e. 7:00 p.m. Paris time),” the group explains. .
Specific corridor
Thus, flight AF218, which connects Paris CDG with Mumbai (India), turned around to return to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Flight AF257, which connects Singapore with Paris-CDG, landed in Delhi (India) to refuel, thus avoiding an increase in travel time in the region.
As for flight AF662, it was well above Iraq: “the flight over Iraqi airspace was limited to a specific corridor used by all airlines,” explains Air France. The plane “was flying over southern Iraq when the Iranian attack began, around 16:45 universal time. It left the country’s airspace shortly before 17:00.”
A company spokesperson told AFP that “an internal investigation has been opened into this event.”
“Air France reiterates that the safety of its customers and crews is its absolute priority (and) constantly monitors the evolution of the geopolitical situation of the territories served and overflown by its aircraft to guarantee the highest level of flight safety and security.
Source: BFM TV
