The downing of Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752 in Iran January 8 offers “tragic proof” that the industry hasn’t learned its lessons on flying into or over conflict zones from the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, and that Europe has no effective system in place to reduce those risks, the European Cockpit Association (ECA) asserts. Unlike the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) cannot prohibit EU airlines from flying into or over conflict zones—it only can issue a recommendation—and it waited until January 16 to distribute a conflict zone information bulletin warning operators against entering Iran airspace at altitudes below Flight Level 250. The EASA CZIB followed days after the FAA issued a Notam preventing U.S. air carriers from overflying Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. In the EU, the UK published a Notam advising their operators not to enter Iranian air space, the German Notam warned for a potentially hazardous situation in the Tehran FIR, while France’s Notam requested French airlines not to authorize their aircraft to enter Iranian and Iraqi airspace until January 22.
More In Airlines
