U.S. military charter plane forced to land in Iran
 

Don't know about anything being resolved quickly in this part of the world?


A U.S. military charter aircraft flying from Afghanistan has been forced down in Iran by Iranian fighter jets, according to officials familiar with the incident.

The plane, which departed Bagram air base on Friday, was chartered by the Pentagon from Fly Dubai, an airline based in the United Arab Emirates, and was carrying approximately 100 Americans and possibly a pair of Canadians. After being intercepted by the fighter jets, the plane was escorted to the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas.

A spokeswoman for the UAE Embassy in Washington said she was aware of the incident but did not have additional information.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the cause of the incident was related to the plane’s flight plan and expressed confidence the situation would to be resolved quickly.

nothing too serious, just paper problems

I can't find anything on line about this, how did you hear of this?

Thanks.

Washington Post newsfeed.

Thank you. USA Today is carrying the story now.

given the recent "improvement" in US/Iran relations I doubt this incident will be difficult to resolve.

I don't suppose there was a small matter of crew duty day involved, and trying to get the jet home without going back to the 'stan? Crew change in Bandar I believe.

This Fly Dubai flight is a contractor milk run connecting in DXB with the evening international departures. You run into a lot of these folks in business class going home on leave or at the termination of their contracts.

On the aviation side, many of these contractors were employed in the past by OGA's, Once Great Airlines. Kinda like some of us here, come to think of it... :rolleyes:

Fly Dubai isn't an American carrier but U.S. carriers have been quietly flying through Iranian (and North Korean :eek:) airspace for years.

NK? That would be crazy, those nutters have radars quite capable of discovering jetliners anywhere in there airspace and wouldn't hesitate to down any "insurgent" aircraft.

The U.S. pax carriers seem to be avoiding the ZKKP FIR after the MH17 shoot down but this currently airborne FedEx freighter is flight planned through North Korean airspace on B467 between NULAR and KANSU:

FedEx (FX) #155 ? 06-Sep-2014 ? PANC - RKSI / ICN ? FlightAware

There is a recent restriction for U.S. carriers that prohibits operation in North Korean airspace west of 132 East longitude and conveniently does not include B467.

The North Koreans get overflight fees and the airlines save time and fuel versus a detour. A win/win situation.

Overflies water only.

Rumour is...that there are only the same two controllers that work the flights(same 2 voices every time). A lady and a man on opposite shifts, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Probably a great job if you live in NK.

More news...
 

Wasn't forced...expired flight plan..turn around or land here..so what?:confused:

A non-event made into something by misleading media headlines.

Yes it was a military charter, however outside Kabul FIR it uses a civilian call sign by a UAE airline that regularly flies through Iranian airspace on a daily basis.

A paperwork mix up which meant a delayed flight plan wasn't updated. The Iranians even gave the aircraft pre-clearence to enter their airspace, and it flew pretty much through the entire FIR before they asked it to either exit via the point it had entered or land at an Iranian airport to file the correct paperwork before being released again.

It was on the ground for an extended period because the crew after being delayed were at the limit of their allowed flight duty time.

In mots countries and in Iran flight plan and DC mean getting large overflying fees .
No flight plan = difficult to get the money.
No or Expired PLN = no info to ATC on first call.
So, probably seen the dep airport, the flight was refused, Crew declared they could not return and an offer to land in Iran to sort out the " problem" was offerred and accepted by the crew,
Not an abnormal procedure .
A non-event.

From yesterday's 'The National'
 

DUBAI // A flydubai plane bound for Dubai from Afghanistan on Friday was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Iran.

The jet, which took off from Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, carrying about 100 passengers, most of whom were American military contractors, was diverted to Bandar Abbas.

Mohammad Ali Ilkhani, head of the Iranian Airports Organisation, said the plane had been forced to make the diversion because of errors in its flight plan.

“The flight information was incorrect and to be sure there was no problem, we asked the pilot to land,” Mr Ilkhani said. “We interviewed the pilot and verified his flight documents. He was then allowed to leave.”

Mr Ilkhani said Iranian airport officials had been unaware that Americans were aboard the flight.

The US state department denied reports that Iran had scrambled fighter jets and forced the plane to land. “We have nothing to indicate there was more to it,” deputy US state department spokesperson, Marie Harf, said.

A flydubai spokesman confirmed the incident and said the flight had been delayed leaving Afghanistan by almost three hours.

“Flydubai charter flight FZ4359 departed from Kandahar two hours and 55 minutes late. En route to Dubai, the aircraft was diverted to Bandar Abbas and the aircraft subsequently landed in Dubai at 2.59am local time on September 6, with a total delay of nine hours and 57 minutes.”

An Iranian official said the flight was forced to land in Iran to pay expenses and complete paperwork.

Mansour Haghighatpour, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said: “Americans should know that Iran strongly defends its territory on land, sea and air. They should observe international measures in this regard. Otherwise they will face such an attitude.”



Read more: Flydubai flight bound for Dubai forced to land in Iran before continuing on its journey | The National
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If, as Mr. Ilkhani stated, they were unaware Americans were onboard, why did Mr. Haghighatpour feel the need to discuss the attitude Americans should expect?