Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Die Welt- Where Is it Safe to Fly?

Where can you even still safe to fly? What dangers are there when aircraft fly over a troubled region at high altitude? That question was raised at least since the launch of the flight MH17 from Malaysia Airlines last year.

That the risk of such disasters as then composed on the Eastern Ukraine, show warnings for different world regions. Just days ago, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gave out such a risk phrase. It warned against Russian missiles, which are fired from the Caspian Sea via Iran and Iraq away towards Syria. In this corridor, many international airlines are traveling.

Such warnings are also a result of MH-17 shooting. Because at that time was accused of the authorities indirectly, to have expressed no such instructions for passenger planes for the upper airspace - though at least was known to the military that the bottom soaring rockets were stationed, which can hit targets in the upper airspace itself. The ICAO, Civil Aviation Organization of the United Nations, drew further consequences of the MH17-crash.

She straightened in April on its Internet site a list with relevant flight information on conflict zones. It is the world's first attempt to collect safety information from different countries, though without any claim to completeness or veracity.

Also States may warn

Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that airlines now have access to such a wide information base. In the past it was only possible countries that are responsible for a particular airspace, Pronounce formal warnings for it.

In order to assess the situation on the ground were, and are aviation authorities also rely on the help of the secret services. Their share insights countries, however, generally do not like with other countries because they do not want other information on the work of its intelligence services get.

Meanwhile, now states for airspaces may issue warnings, which they do not control you. For the decision to close airspace for passenger aircraft, but the countries are still in charge, falls within the territories of the airspace. Some would shy away, however, because they are important revenue would then escape through overflight charges, there are rumors in the industry.

In addition, it is always ultimately at the discretion of the airlines to comply with warnings or perhaps even pre-empt them. So Air France, British Airways, Korean Air, Asiana and Qantas flew on July 17, 2014 not on the Eastern Ukraine, Malaysia Airlines and other airlines already.

The Sinai Question

On the ICAO side currently find safety information from different countries on the following conflict areas: Afghanistan, Egypt (Sinai Peninsula), Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. The so-called Notams - 'Notices to Airmen', mutatis mutandis: Notes for pilots - but differ in part from the advice.

So recommends about Germany, Afghanistan is not lower than 33,000 feet (10,058 meters) to skim because below this altitude there is a potential danger to aircraft by air defense weapons and ground-to-ground weapons. France, however, is called as a recommended altitude for Afghanistan at least 24,000 feet (7351 meters), ie less than Germany.

The US aviation authority FAA in turn discourages American Airlines them to fly or to fly the Sinai Peninsula. United Kingdom on the other hand speaks of a potential risk for overflights at 25,000 feet (7620 meters), since there is there antiaircraft guns on the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The EASA warned European Airlines also before overflying the northern Sinai Peninsula with an altitude of less than 26,000 feet.

Europe's secret services

The FAA had contacted him the day before the publication of the decision, reported EASA Chef Patrick Ky. Unlike the FAA, however, its authority in the assessment of the situation in crisis regions such as the Sinai Peninsula can not rely on the help of a secret - namely the US - to build.

Instead, he had to rely on the goodwill of the various European countries to share the findings of their intelligence with him. These are under no obligation to. Two countries have, however, helped him a lot, so he had come to the conclusion, only in the airspace over the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula there is a real danger, Ky testified before the French Federation of Journalists AJPAE.

For some crisis regions are located on the ICAO website the safety of several countries before - about the South Sudan, Yemen and Libya. For others, such as Sudan or Pakistan there is only one warning to France.

The country encourages its airlines, there is not to fly below 24,000 feet.Ultimately, however, it is always at the discretion of the airlines, which route and height should be chosen.

Various maneuvers

This shows another example that calls EASA Chief Ky. His Authority recommends not to use the four routes that Ukraine has released in the airspace over the sea near the Crimean region in the summer again. Nevertheless, a major airline would fly on these routes, says Ky.

"If one were to take as a passenger this airline?", He admits concerns. "Did you get as a passenger not have the right access to the information about the risks that they go in?" He himself always look at how the routes ran an airline says Ky.

Because the threats to airliners in crisis areas or military exercises are varied.Around two dozen firings of aircraft by larger rockets are unequivocally documented. There are also numerous suspected cases.

The palette contains multiple launches by soaring floor-to-air missiles plus numerous crashes through the air-to-air missiles, which fighter jets have fired missiles on passenger aircraft as the Malaysia Airlines crash over Ukraine in 2014..

How dangerous are cruise missiles?

30 years ago there were, for example, to shoot down a jumbo jet from Korean Air Lines by two air-to-air missiles, fired by Soviet interceptors. A tragic confusion occurred in 1988 when an Airbus of Iran Air was shot down by a ground-to-air missile from a US warship in Iranian territorial waters, because he was mistaken for a warplane.

A shooting down of a civilian aircraft by a low-flying surface-to-surface missile, although not yet known, but is still a potential threat. So the Russians are said to have cruise missile used in recent attacks on ground targets in Syria type Cal-NK which also SS -N-30A Sizzler / Klub-N are called.

These cruise missiles that have been fired in the specific case of ships in the Caspian Sea, differ technically fundamentally from the ground-air missiles Buk, the f ÜR responsible to the firing of MH17 be made.

The now fired Russian ground-to-ground cruise twill with nearly nine meters in length were tested for the first time 2012. You control in very low altitude - usually under 50 meters - on their goal to. On final supersonic speed is achieved.

The risk of Manpads

Experts estimate the reach with a conventional warhead 1500 kilometers. The US uses the technique of engaging targets on land by fired from ships cruise missiles for decades with the equally low-flying model Tomahawk.

The numerically greatest threat to passenger aircraft is based on so-called Manpads (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems). Thousands or even tens of thousands of small missiles that are fired from the shoulder, should be in the hands of terrorists. In addition, enormous stocks with the regular armed forces.Among the most widespread Manpad systems include the Russian Strela and Igla models as well as the US model Stinger.

A good two dozen civilian aircraft plunged after the shelling by these "one-man anti-aircraft missiles" from. Already a decade ago, the US Congress was informed that it would cost three billion dollars and take six years to equip all passenger aircraft of the United States with a defense system against attack.

IS controlled airports

The threat to aircraft MANPADS is particularly during takeoff and landing, when the aircraft come into the field of view of possible attackers. Overflights at high altitudes are usually safe, because the range of the weapon is too low. The Geneva research center Small Arms Survey warns for some time prior to the dissemination of portable ground-to-air missiles in the Middle East and North Africa as a growing threat to civil aviation.

But the case of Syria is also another danger. Because there are some airports are under the control of the terrorist organization Islamic State of (IS). This therefore has access to an important infrastructure - and the expertise of the airport staff.

But not only conflict zones and the accessibility of information on their potential risks for civil aviation constitute a major challenge for aviation safety. The do also overstrained or not adequately equipped air regulators in some countries. EASA Chef Patrick Ky expressed concern about the weakness of the relevant authorities in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.