Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel

Air France said Wednesday it had launched an inquiry into how a jet on a Paris-Dubai flight went over Iraq as Iranian missiles taking part in an attack on Israel went through the same airspace.

Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward Israeli territory on October 1 as tensions in the Middle East soared. The missiles had to cross Iraq to reach Israel.

Air France flight AF662 crossed Iraqi territory at the start of the attack, just before Air France ordered its planes to stop flying over Iraq and local authorities closed Iraqi airspace, according to the French carrier.

The LCI television channel, which first reported the incident, said the pilots saw the missiles in the night sky from their cockpit and that Iraqi air traffic control had wished them "good luck".

"On October 1, information identified an upcoming ballistic missile attack on Israel by Iran. Consequently, and without waiting for instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France decided to suspend flights over the country's airspace by its aircraft as of 1700 GMT," Air France told AFP in a statement.

Flight AF662 "was flying over the south of Iraq when the Iranian attack began, at around 1645 GMT. It left the country's airspace shortly before 1700 GMT. Iraqi airspace was not officially closed by the local authorities until 1756 GMT," it added.

The statement said Air France flights "already avoided Israeli, Lebanese and Iranian airspace" due to the international tensions and that "overflight of Iraqi airspace was limited to a specific corridor used by all airlines".

A company spokesperson told AFP that "an internal investigation has been opened into this incident".

The airline did not comment on whether the pilots had seen the missiles. Ballistic missiles fly at an altitude generally higher to that of commercial airliners.

A board member of the National Union of Airline Pilots, Laurent Veque, confirmed the incident saying "the plane ended up in this Iraqi corridor in the middle of the hostilities launched by Iran against Israel".

"Light must be shed on what happened", he told LCI.

Iran said it launched 200 missiles at Israel on October 1, following the September 27 killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, by an Israeli missile in Beirut. Tehran said 90 percent hit their targets, while the Israeli military said many were intercepted.