As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled his country after rebels entered Damascus, reports of which presidential plane he may have used are the subject of speculation.
A page was suddenly turned this Sunday morning in Syria where President Bashar al-Assad fled after the rebels entered the capital, Damascus. The Syrian dictator would have “lost the support of his protector Russia”, even claimed American President-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform this morning.
But while the destination to which El-Assad would have flown remained completely mysterious, speculation arose around his plane which would have disappeared from radars after experiencing a sudden loss of altitude.
According to Al Jazeera, at the time rebels took control of Damascus airport, online flight radars observed only one plane in Syrian airspace.
The Syrian president should therefore logically be in this Ilyushin IL-76 bearing the Syrian Air flight number 9218. The last plane to have left Damascus this Sunday.
While one might have thought that the plane was going to seek to reach Jordan or the United Arab Emirates, it first flew towards the east before heading sharply towards the north of the country. But after 25 minutes of flight, the plane suddenly lost altitude until it almost reached dry land after 40 minutes of flight when the plane was flying over the Syrian city of Homs, a city which had fallen into the hands of the rebels since the day before. At the same time, the speed of the plane was significantly slowed down.
It was then that the plane disappeared from radar. Local media report a strong explosion in the Homs sector.
This Sunday morning, there was no certainty regarding the fate of Bashar El-Assad who could also have fled to the United Arab Emirates the day before the capture of Damascus. Who was on board this presidential plane when Syria was falling apart? And why did this plane disappear from radar so suddenly?
