Bullets which struck a flydubai aircraft while it was landing at Baghdad International Airport on Monday was an accident and was likely gunfire from a nearby social event such as a wedding or funeral, an Iraqi official has claimed.
“After landing at Baghdad International Airport (BGW) on 26 January 2015, damage to the aircraft fuselage consistent with small arms fire was discovered on flydubai flight FZ 215,” a flydubai spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Several news outlets, including Kurdish news channel KNN, said eight shots were fired into the aircraft. It also claimed at least two passengers and were rushed to hospital for treatment. However, this has been denied by the airline spokesperson, who told Arabian Business there were no injuries and there was no medical assistance required at the airport.
Air traffic was also temporarily halted around the airport due to “security measures.”
“What happened was an accident,” Iraqi transport minister Baqr Jabr Al Zubaidi told reporters in Baghdad.
The minister said the gunfire hit the plane when it was at an altitude of 600 metres and was struck by three rounds of bullets.
Shooting into the air during celebrations is a common practice in Iraq. However, other officials in Baghdad have not ruled out the fact that the aircraft may have been targeted on purpose and a security official told Reuters authorities had rounded up suspects in farmlands south of the airport.
As a result of the incident, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday summoned the Iraqi ambassador, Muwaffaq Mehdi Abboud, “to express its grave concern” over the incident.
During the meeting, Mohammed Mer Al Raisi, Undersecretary of MoFA, expressed the UAE’s concern and demanded that the Iraqi authorities launch a comprehensive investigation, news agency WAM reported.
He also demanded that Iraq “take necessary measures to enforce international agreements on civil aviation safety and provide the required guarantees and protection”.
Flydubai, Emirates Airlines, Sharjah’s Air Arabia and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways suspended flights on Tuesday, in line with a directive from the United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation authority.
Turkish Airlines and Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) also suspended flights for the day without citing the shooting incident.
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