The French airline emphasizes that the aircraft left the country’s airspace shortly before 5:00 p.m., a quarter of an hour after the start of the attack.
A French civilian plane passing through a sky littered with 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 evening, while missiles fired by the Islamist Republic were flying over the country. A highly risky situation. According to our colleagues, the pilots “saw the missiles from the cockpit”, missiles which fortunately were operating at a higher altitude.
How did this device end up in this area at the time of the attack? Air France provides explanations. “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),” explains the group.
“The company’s aircraft were already avoiding Israeli, Lebanese and Iranian airspace,” the company continues.
Specific corridor
Thus, flight AF218, linking Paris CDG to Mumbai (India) turned around to return to land at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Flight AF257, connecting Singapore to Paris-CDG, landed in Delhi (India) to refuel, avoiding the region implying an increase in travel time.
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 aircraft “was flying over southern Iraq when the Iranian attack began, around 4:45 p.m. universal time. It left the country’s airspace shortly before 5:00 p.m.”
“Iraqi airspace was only officially closed by local authorities at 5:56 p.m. universal time,” the company points out.
A spokesperson for the company 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 flown by its aircraft in order to ensure the highest level of safety and flight safety.
Olivier Chicheportiche Journalist BFM Business
