Thread: European agency issues alert to airlines following Russian missile strikes in Syria

European agency issues alert to airlines following Russian missile strikes in Syria

Published October 11, 2015 The Wall Street Journal




Russia’s long-range missile strikes against targets in Syria have prompted aviation safety authorities to issue a safety alert to airlines flying in Iraq, Iran, and over the Caspian Sea amid growing concerns about the risk to commercial flying near conflict zones.

Russia this week said it fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against Syrian targets—nearly 1,000 miles away—as Moscow steps up its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. and other Western countries have denounced the strikes. Russia denies U.S. assertions that some of the missiles fell short, landing in Iran.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations’ air-safety arm, on Oct. 9 warned of “the possible existence of serious risks to the safety of international civil flights” flying in the wider airspace around Baghdad, Damascus and Tehran.

The European Aviation Safety Agency said it issued a safety information bulletin to airlines on Oct. 9 in response to the missile strikes. “Before reaching Syria, such missiles are necessarily crossing the airspace above Caspian Sea, Iran and Iraq, below flight routes which are used by commercial transport aeroplanes,” said the organization, which is based in Cologne, Germany.

Safety bulletins are issued to alert airlines about potential hazards to commercial flights and used by carriers to make flight plans. EASA said it had no specific recommendations on what actions airlines should take.

Fighting in Iraq has previously triggered such notices and led to restrictions on operating in some Iraqi airspace.

ICAO said some airlines have resorted to alternative routing during and after the missile firings. It also said such adjustments to flight plans could increase the density of jetliners on the alternative routes and affect overall airspace capacity.

Airline-safety authorities have become particularly attuned to the risk of flying near conflict zones after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was downed on July 17, 2014, while cruising at 33,000 feet over eastern Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people onboard the Boeing Co. 777 jetliner were killed.

Ukraine and the U.S. accuse pro-Russian separatist rebels of having shot down the plane with a sophisticated antiaircraft missile. Russia denies the claim. The Dutch Safety Board, which is leading the probe into the crash, is due to release its final report on the downing of the Malaysian jetliner on Tuesday.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/10...owing-russian/

RUSSIA'S FIRST STRIKES IN SYRIA HIT U.S. ALLY, NOT ISLAMIC STATE

Russian Missile Strikes in Syria Trigger European Alert to Airlines

Long-range missiles prompt safety bulletin to airlines flying in Iraq, Iran and over the Caspian Sea

ENLARGE
An image from a video on the Russian Defense Ministry's website on Oct. 7, reportedly showing a Russian warship in the Caspian Sea launching a cruise missile into Syria. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES


By ROBERT WALL
Updated Oct. 10, 2015 10:39 p.m. ET 25 COMMENTS

Russia’s long-range missile strikes against targets in Syria last week have prompted global aviation officials to issue safety alerts to airlines operating over Iraq, Iran, and the Caspian Sea amid heightened concerns about the risk to commercial flying near conflict zones.

Russia’s firing of cruise missiles against Syrian targets from the Caspian Sea and the broader regional conflict led the United Nations’ aviation arm and the agency that oversees European airspace to issue parallel warnings about potential serious risks to flights traversing a region that includes busy routes linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N.’s air-safety arm, said Friday it had been informed that some carriers had opted to take alternative routes.

Early Sunday, aircraft continued to cross the Caspian Sea and the busy north-south route over western Iran that connects the big three Persian Gulf airport hubs to Europe and the U.S., according to Flightradar24, an online airline tracking service. However, it also flagged a shift by airlines to direct more aircraft over Saudi Arabia and Egypt rather than Iran.

Eurocontrol, the pan-European air traffic control agency, said in a notice to airlines Saturday that there had been no significant change in carrier’s routes within its region.

Russia’s announcement that it had fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against Syrian targets—nearly 1,000 miles away—prompted the European Aviation Safety Agency to issue a safety information bulletin to airlines on Oct. 9.

“Before reaching Syria, such missiles are necessarily crossing the airspace above Caspian Sea, Iran and Iraq, below flight routes which are used by commercial transport airplanes,” said the organization, which is based in Cologne, Germany.

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Safety bulletins are issued to alert airlines about potential hazards to commercial flights and used by airlines to make flight plans. The agency said it had no specific recommendations on what actions airlines should take. Eurocontrol said it was monitoring the situation via teleconferences with airlines and air traffic control officials.

The U.S. and other Western countries have denounced the strikes.

Russia denies U.S. assertions some of the missiles fell short, landing in Iran. Fighting in Iraq has previously triggered such notices and led to restrictions on operating in some Iraqi airspace.

Airline-safety authorities have become particularly attuned to the risk of flying near conflict zones after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was downed on July 17, 2014, while cruising at 33,000 feet over eastern Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people onboard the Boeing Co. 777 jetliner were killed.

Ukraine and the U.S. accuse pro-Russian separatist rebels of having shot down the plane with a sophisticated antiaircraft missile. Russia denies the claim. The Dutch Safety Board, which is leading the probe into the crash, is due to release its final report on the downing of the Malaysian jetliner on Tuesday.

ENLARGE
Local workers transport a piece of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 wreckage at the site of the plane crash in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, in November last year.PHOTO: REUTERS


Ukrainian authorities had declared the airspace where the Malaysian plane was brought down safe. Still, the incident has prompted air-safety authorities to improve the sharing of information about potential dangers to flights operating near battlefields.

EASA has opened talks with military representatives in Europe to find ways to tap intelligence gathered by those organizations to keep commercial air travel safe.

The European safety agency also is examining a surge in recent Russian long-range military patrols by combat jets and bomber aircraft along the borders of European Union member states. The Russian military planes frequently don’t employ transponders that can help identify the aircraft to commercial air traffic.

The flights, which Russia previously has said aren’t provocative, have prompted European militaries to launch jet fighters to identify the aircraft.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-...nes-1444473837