US-Chartered Plane en route to Dubai Lands in Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A commercial aircraft chartered by the US-led military coalition en route from the Afghan city of Bagram to the Persian Gulf city of Dubai landed in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Friday, an informed Iranian source confirmed.
The airport official confirmed that the plane had landed at Bandar Abbas International Airport, but did not provide further information, Press TV reported.
The chartered aircraft, carrying about 100 Americans from the US airbase at Bagram landed safely in Dubai after being diverted to Iran because of issues with its flight plan, Reuters quoted the US State Department as saying on Friday.
The Fly Dubai plane took off earlier from Iran’s Bandar Abbas after being rerouted there. A US official said the plane had failed to update its flight plan after leaving Bagram for Dubai several hours late.
When Iranian civil aviation officials identified the plane, they could not find it in their system because it was supposed to have flown through hours earlier, the official said.
Iranian officials first asked it to turn around and then to land at Bandar Abbas when told it did not have enough fuel to return to Afghanistan, the US official said.
In a statement saying the plane had landed in Dubai, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that contrary to some media reports, "No Iranian jets were scrambled in this situation.”
"We appreciate the efforts of all parties to help the passengers get safely to their destination," she added.
