Turbulence for aviation. The war in Iran can affect safety
Lufthansa LH780 from Frankfurt to Singapore was in the air for about four hours, when Boeing 747 made strange maneuver. It was just after midnight and the plane was located above Turkmenistan. The pilot suddenly directed the long -distance ship to a long turn to the left. Then the plane made a perfect rotation of 360 degrees, 10 minutes later he returned to the original course and continue the flight to the Changi airport in Singapore.
The cause of night confusion over the Turkmen desert was not the temporary confusion of the captain, but the form of waiting. As the Lufthansa line confirmed in the statement for “Die Welt”, this maneuver was necessary because the LH780 aircraft devoured the normal route at night due to crowded air corridors And he was about to fly into the airspace of Afghanistan soon.
Due to the special situation in this country, special precautions apply. All passenger aircraft must keep a distance of 15 minutes from each other and if necessary, make additional laps before entering Afghanistan.
Since the closing of the airspace Iran and Iraq on June 13, the flightradar24 air portal has been watching extensive changes in civil aviation flight routes. Since the Western airlines have not been flying over Russia for three years because of the war in Ukraine, until the situation in Iran and Israel remains unclear, aircraft must squeeze through the remaining other bottlenecks in the south. The most important route on northern Egypt is completely overcrowded.
Airspace
“As a result, last week the number of flights over Saudi Arabia has doubled,” says Flightradar24. “The number of flights over Afghanistan increased by almost 500 percent.” While civil aircraft previously avoided Afghan airspace, currently 280 flights a day are recorded – the company says.
The minimum distance is a kind of temporary means, thanks to which airlines want to ensure that their aircraft will not collide with other machines over Afghanistan. Since the hasty evacuation of Americans There is no serious air traffic control in the country. Passenger aircraft fly in a view. “In such cases, pilots regularly transmit their position, flight height, course and speed on the radio,” explains Air Expert Heinrich Grossbongardt. – This procedure is also used in some regions of Africa and works.
Lufthansa spokesman said that the Afghan airspace has been available again “for a long time”, which is true. However, the European Easa Civil Aviation Office only issued a warning that is still in force at the beginning of this year. It stated that “they exist Safety concerns flights due to the lack or limited ability to operate air traffic across the country. “
Earthly threats is even more disturbing. “Due to the current security situation in Afghanistan, since the withdrawal of Western forces and the takeover of power in the country by the Taliban in August 2021, there is still a potential threat to civil aviation, which causes a high risk for operations at heights below FL 320 [nazewnictwo poziomu lotu]” – we read in the warning.
Attacks on aerial facilities
The 320 plane means a flight height of 32 thousand. feet, i.e. less than 10 thousand m. The warning shows that the flight over Afghanistan at this height is basically safe. However, if the plane is forced to go down, the situation can become very unpleasant. “Extreme non -state groups are still active and can sporadically and in various ways to conduct attacks on air objects, for example through direct rocket or mortar attacks, indirect fire or suicidal attacks,” warns Easa.
-Land -rse missiles transferred from the shoulder, such as Stinger, reach a height of only about 3,000. up to 4,000 m. To hit a passenger plane at a through height, a beech missile would be needed – says Grossbongardt. One of the Russian Rocket Land-Term of this type was apparently accidentally shot over eastern Ukraine 11 years ago, shooting down the Malaysia Airlines passenger aircraft. However, there is no evidence that Afghan leaders have such systems.
In fact, the Taliban are not too interested in attacking passenger aircraft flying over them. They gain too much on them. Afghanistan charges a flat -rate fee of $ 700. (PLN 2.5 thousand) for a flight through your airspace. Based on current air traffic data, this gives a monthly income of $ 5.9 million. (PLN 21 million). These are valuable currency income for the regime suffering from trade restrictions.
Not so much security issues mean that Afghanistan is not very attractive for commercial aviation. – pilots avoid Afghanistan primarily because of lack of ground infrastructure – says expert Grossbongardt. The topography of the country, with extensive areas and high mountains, means that in the event of engine failure or other difficulties, an emergency landing in Afghanistan cannot be avoided.
– However, nobody wants to land in Kabul. There is no technical infrastructure or spare parts there – says Grossbongardt. Passenger accommodation in this country can also be a difficult undertaking. Neither the crew nor passengers will be too interested in accommodation at the Taliban.
