Take-off and touchdown are essentially the most harmful phases of a flight. What occurred to a Center East Airways MEA Airbus A320 on method to Beirut will not be one of many normal threat elements. The jet, registration OD-MRM, was hit by a stray bullet.
Lebanese presenter and politician Paula Yacoubian was on board the aircraft, which got here from Ammann in Jordan. She shared two images on Twitter of the injury I discovered above the overhead bins above seats 2F and 2D. MEA boss Mohamad El-Hout confirmed the incident to Reuters information company and stated nobody was injured.
The airline chief stated seven to eight planes a yr are hit on the bottom by stray bullets fired close to Beirut airport. The present incident is the primary during which a aircraft was hit within the air.
Weapons could be fired in salutes on ceremonial events or throughout speeches by politicians. “This follow of taking pictures within the air in Lebanon have to be stopped,” El-Hout stated. “It’s a supply of hazard for air visitors and the airport.” Paula Yacoubian additionally referred to as for an finish to this in her tweet.
It’s not the primary time El-Hout has needed to tackle the problem. On New 12 months’s Eve 2020/2021, three MEA plane parked at Beirut Airport have been broken by bullets, together with an Airbus A321 Neo. At the moment, there was not solely property injury in Lebanon. A number of individuals, together with youngsters, have been injured by bullets on New 12 months’s Eve. Some victims even died from their accidents.
Aegean Airways briefly suspended all flights to Beirut in January 2022 as a result of there was a suspicion that one of many Greek airline’s planes might even have been broken by a bullet. Aegean is now flying again to Beirut.
This text was written by Timo Nowack
The unique of this text “Airbus A320 hit by bullet on method to Beirut Airport” comes from aeroTelegraph.