Airlines warned of missiles crossing under flight paths

AVIATION authorities say long-range missiles fired from Russian warships could cross under the flight paths of passenger planes.

A worker checks the wings for ice. Qantas planes, Melbourne airport. Melbourne has shivered through a cold Winter's morning. Picture: Nicole Garmston

QANTAS isn’t commenting on whether it will alter routes over the Middle East following advice from European aviation authorities that missiles being fired into Syria could cross under the flight path of passenger planes.

The European Aviation Safety Agency says it has been informed of “several launches of missiles from warships” in the Caspian Sea into Syria.

The long-range missiles are being fired from Russian warships in the Caspian Sea as part of President Vladimir Putin’s air offensive against Islamic State.

“Before reaching Syria, such missiles are necessarily crossing the airspace above Caspian Sea, Iran and Iraq, below flight routes which are used by commercial transport aeroplanes,” the bulletin dated October 9 says.

Last year, in the wake of the MH17 disaster, Qantas re-routed its Dubai to London services, opting to fly over Iranian airspace instead of the more direct route over Iraq, to avoid any risks from the conflict zone.

The change adds about 10 minutes to the journey.

The airline flies at between 38,000 and 41,000 feet over the area.

MH17 was cruising at about 33,000 feet over the Ukraine — in what airline authorities believed to be a safe zone — when it was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air-missile in July last year.

Qantas wouldn’t be drawn on the current advice, but a spokesman said the airline always monitored and consulted with the intelligence community on safety risks.

“We have alternative flight paths in place if we decided they were necessary,” he said.

European airlines, including Air France and British Airways would also be affected.

Air France yesterday began altering its flight routes in response to the warning, but BA has announced no plans,The Telegraph reports.

The warning comes as investigators release the long-awaited details what happened to MH17.

All 298 people on board were killed, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

Dutch crash investigators revealed the warhead exploded in midair, just outside of the plane’s cockpit, instantly killing the passenger jet’s three pilots and breaking the aircraft into pieces in midair.

Passengers and crew were not directly struck by missile fragments, but would have been unconscious seconds after impact.

It took the plane a further one and a half minutes for the plane to crash to the ground.