By Le Figaro with AFP
Published
5 hours ago,
Updated 3 hours ago
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On October 1, Tehran launched a hail of missiles on several Israeli cities. Flight AF662, connecting Paris to Dubai, was “flying over southern Iraq when the attack began”.
The company Air France announced this Wednesday, October 9, that it had opened a « internal investigation » concerning the flight over Iraqi territory on October 1 of one of its aircraft, linking Paris to Dubai, at the time when the Iranian missile attack towards Israel began.
« On October 1, information identified an upcoming attack on Israel by Iran with the sending of ballistic missiles. Consequently, and without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France has decided to suspend flights over the country’s airspace by its planes from 5 p.m. universal time (i.e. 7 p.m. Paris time) »indicates a press release from the company sent to AFP.
The pilots “saw the missiles from the cockpit”
Air France specifies that on that day, its flight AF662, connecting Paris CDG to Dubai, « was flying over southern Iraq when the Iranian attack began, around 4:45 p.m. universal time. He left the country’s airspace shortly before 5 p.m. Iraqi airspace was not officially closed by local authorities until 5:56 p.m. universal time »it is specified.
The press release recalls that Air France aircraft « were already avoiding Israeli, Lebanese and Iranian airspace » and that « overflight of Iraqi airspace was limited to a specific corridor used by all airlines ». A spokesperson for the company told AFP that« an internal investigation has been opened into this event ».
Ballistic missiles travel at a higher altitude than airliners fly. But according to LCI, the pilots of flight AF662 “saw the missiles from the cockpit”information that Air France did not wish to comment on.
200 missiles launched
Questioned by LCI, Laurent Veque, member of the office of the National Union of Airline Pilots, declared that « the facts are established and known, the plane found itself in this Iraqi corridor in the middle of the hostilities unleashed by Iran against Israel ». « The light must be shed (…) The health, safety and working conditions commission (CSSCT) will certainly be contacted today, we want to know what happened »he added.
Iran said it launched 200 missiles against Israel on October 1, after the death on September 27 of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by an Israeli missile in the southern suburbs of Beirut, along with a general Iranian. According to Tehran, 90% reached their target, while the Israeli army assured that a large number had been intercepted.
