EUROPEAN airlines were told on Thursday to avoid Ukraine’s airspace after a Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in the east of the country.
In France, a statement by junior transport minister Frederic Cuvillier said he had advised “French airlines to avoid Ukraine’s air space as long as the reasons behind this catastrophe are not known.”
Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 disappeared from radar contact around 14h15 GMT as it was flying over eastern Ukraine with 295 people on board.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has not ruled out that the airliner might have been shot down, and said he considers the disaster a “terrorist act”.
Leading airlines quickly announced plans to avoid the country’s airspace.
Air France said it had “taken the decision to no longer fly over eastern Ukraine as soon as it heard of the event.”
A spokeswoman for German flag carrier Lufthansa told it has decided to immediately make a “wide detour” around the area, and added: “Our passenger’s safety is our top priority.”
In London, a spokesman for the British Department for Transport told : “Flights already airborne are being routed around the area by air traffic control in the region.”
In April, The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared the troubled Crimean peninsula, which is south of the crash site, a virtual no-fly zone for US air carriers and pilots.
A similar no-fly order for European airlines was issued, also in April, by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, or Eurocontrol.
US President Barack Obama Thursday said the crash in eastern Ukraine was a “terrible tragedy” and said US officials were trying to establish if any Americans were on board.
“The world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia/Ukraine border. And it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy,” Obama said, before going ahead with a previously scheduled event in Wilmington, Delaware.
-Nampa-AFP
