Al Arabiya animation shows a Qatar Airways aircraft being escorted by a fighter. Inset: A missile shot at an aircraft.
Qatar has raised the issue of broadcast of a graphic simulation by Al Arabiya TV in which a fighter jet was shown firing a missile at a Qatar Airways passenger aircraft for “violating airspace of blockading countries”.
Qatar’s Permanent Office at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal yesterday handed an official message from the State of Qatar to ICAO Secretary-General, Board President and representatives of member states, on the violations by the siege countries through their satellite TV channels aiming to intimidate passengers, through the report which was broadcast on August 9 by Al Arabiya TV, a Saudi channel based in Dubai.
The simulation referred to what it called the ‘right of the siege countries to shoot down any Qatar Airways passenger aircraft’ if it flew into their airspace. The message from Qatar pointed out that this televised report constitutes a clear and serious violation of international treaties and conventions, particularly the 1944 Chicago Convention, the international air traffic service agreement and international air law.
The graphic animation had showed a fighter jet firing a missile at a passenger plane. In the footage titled “Understanding the Qatar Airways ban”, the voiceover commentary tells people about the options the blockading countries have in case Qatar Airways passenger jet enters their airspace.
The voiceover says that they can either dispatch a fighter jet to force the plane to land after which, its members may be prosecuted for several crimes, such as breaching national security and exposing civilians to danger. The other option, as being told to viewers by Al Arabiya TV, is to “shoot down any plane entering its airspace.”
The voiceover further says that according to “international law, a state that bans flights from entering its airspace has the right to deal with the violating plane in any way it wishes.” In this piece of footage, a missile is shown being fired towards a passenger plane. After its first broadcast, the simulation was quickly picked up by media outlets worldwide, including Newsweek, The Independent and The Daily Mail etc.
Vipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT, tweeted: “This is some outrageous stuff from Al Arabiya, threatening to shoot down a Qatar Airways passenger jet if in Saudi.”
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras told The Independent it was “irresponsible and unprofessional” for the Saudi network to air the graphic animation, but that it was a sensationalist move rather than an official Saudi threat. It was irresponsible and unprofessional of the network to air such a report – and passengers flying in the Middle East region should have no fear or worry about the safety of their aircraft.”
Alex Macheras also tweeted: “It’s shocking that a news channel would think it’s acceptable to create and illustrate a passenger airline aircraft being blown out of the sky.”
Jeff Farell in his report in The Independent with headline “Fears grow as video shows Saudi fighter jet firing missile at a Qatari civilian aircraft”, has written: “Viewers believe the simulated video of the fighter jet downing a Qatar Airways civilian plane is “beyond provocative” and is meant to scare off would-be passengers from flying with the country’s national airline.”
“But aviation experts dismissed the graphic animation as “sensationalist” and pointed out that aircraft from the Gulf state have a “legitimate” right to fly in the skies over Saudi Arabia,” Farell further writes.
While reporting the story, Daily Mail observes: “The warning will increase the workload of air traffic controllers in Qatar to prevent their aircraft from straying over the border into Saudi Arabia and possible danger.”
Another tweet, reported by Daily Mail, said: “Spreading terror into civilians is the goal which is the pure definition of terrorism.” Ibtesam Al Emadi said: “Bombing a civilian plane!!! What is this called? Spreading terrorist thinking or not???”
ICAO, the UN body governing aviation, has issued a directive to all Gulf states, asking them to abide by the international treaties they have signed which mandate airspace openness.
Alex Macheras in his article titled “Saudi news channel shows simulated downing of a civilian jet” published on “The Points Guy” website said: “While Saudi Arabia is not a party to the transit agreement treaty, which permits overflight, it has signed the Chicago Convention — which states in Article 9 that while airspace can be closed for exceptional circumstances, or during periods of emergencies, a country cannot discriminate against a specific nationality or origin of an aircraft.”
Alex Macheras is an aviation analyst, frequent flyer & traveller. He provides aviation analysis on international networks BBC News, Sky News, Good Morning Britain & LBC.
“Since the crisis began, Saudi has ignored this part of the Chicago Convention, and Qatar Airways has been avoiding Saudi airspace, as well as other regions in the region.”
Macheras writes: “It’s worth highlighting that all commercial flights around the world file flight plans with aviation authorities before departure, and routes are outlined by airline operation teams that study weather, access, airways, flight information regions, traffic and more.
For this reason, it is almost impossible that a Qatar Airways aircraft would suddenly find itself, barring a malfunction, in an airspace it should not be in. Passengers need not be alarmed.”
Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications explained yesterday that the televised report contained a 3-D presentation that included a voice comment stating that international law gives the siege countries the right to down any aircraft that enters its airspace as a hostile target, especially in military areas, where air defence is unrestricted.
The ministry said that the report also claimed that according to international law, a state that prohibits flying over its airspace can down any aircraft entering its airspace.
The report also explained possible options, such as forcing the plane to land and prosecuting its crew on several charges, including compromising national security and endangering civilians.
The ministry pointed out that the report has been widely circulated in the international media as well as in social media and has been highly acclaimed by legal experts and specialists in the field of civil aviation.
The statement said that Qatar has demanded, through its Representative to the ICAO Issa Abdullah Al Maliki, taking the necessary steps to remind all States in the Organization of their obligations towards the security and safety of aviation under international law as well as international ethics.
