Update: Commenter LY546traveler shares the following:
“I’ve been on that LY546 flight from ATH-TLV. We were really about to land with all the lights off and the flight attendants in their seats when from the right side of the plane you could see a missile coming and out of the darkness of the night 2 missiles rose from the ground to intercept the oncoming missile!
It felt pretty close but not as if we could reach it – but it was relatively right near us!
It was enough close that some older children started crying, adults shrieking, etc.
At the same time, the plane felt as if we were taking off once again as we steeply climbed the sky above Tel Aviv we altered directions, the lights were turned on, and were told that due to sirens we were directed away from the airport and will be making some circles – and that we shouldn’t worry as we have enough fuel (as if that was our worry).
It probably was our flight but with the angle at which the video was taken, it looks very different from the air.
(Someone on the plane received a video of a plane flying near the iron dome at work and said that it was our plane)
After landing everyone started singing Am Yisrael chai…
I didn’t manage to get anything (on video) as we didn’t even hear a siren to warn us – it was basically over before we really understood what was happening…
There might have been others that were filming at that time by chance.”
Originally posted on 10/27:
Most foreign airlines have suspended their flying into Israel. The primary reason is that while the Israeli government insures the planes of Arkia, El Al, and Israir during war time, most other airlines do not have that insurance coverage and can’t fly into active war zones. But of course there are also safety concerns and crew that don’t want to fly in a war zone.
Here is crazy footage of a plane on approach into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport:
There was some speculation online of this possibly being El Al flight 546 from Athens landing in Tel Aviv, which had to climb back out on approach to Tel Aviv due to multiple missile interceptions and then circle for half an hour before landing safely:
EL AL flight LY546 had to climb back out on approach to Tel Aviv tonight due to multiple missile interceptions occurring at the same time, flight held for a while before landing safely @RadarBoxCom
— Flight Emergency (@FlightEmergency) October 26, 2023
El Al Israel flight #LY546 had to climb back out on approach to Tel Aviv Airport tonight due to multiple missile interceptions. ✈️
The aircraft was held in a holding pattern briefly before making a safe landing.📰
View #LY546's data at https://t.co/6YQwd26qsa https://t.co/kvWyaXdiNl pic.twitter.com/W6E7Ruoa8c
— AirNav Radar (@AirNavRadar) October 27, 2023
That flight was operated by a Boeing 737. El Al’s 737s and 777s are equipped with SkyShield that helps protect the plane against missiles, though the video doesn’t appear to show the plane deploying any counter-missile measures.
I reached out to El Al and spoke with Captain Hovav Ben David, the airline’s Vice President of operations and 737 chief pilot.
He said that he was unable to confirm that the plane in the video was an El Al plane. He also cautioned that it’s extremely difficult to gauge distances at night due to how the plane and missiles are illuminated in the dark sky.
However, he noted that the captain of flight 546 did not report anything unusual and neither did any other El Al flights, so either it was not their flight, or it was not a close situation. The airport also didn’t report any danger to any flight operations and holding patterns are very common due to the war.
The captain also said that the airline works very closely with the IDF and receives real-time alerts of any safety issues and always has a heads-up when there is missile activity in the area.
It’s worth noting that while in 2021 some flights were diverted to Eilat/Ramon airport due to Hamas missiles, that hasn’t happened yet during this war.
This iron dome footage was taken from Ben Gurion Airport in 2021:
The Wall Street Journal also has a very interesting video of how Ben Gurion stays open during wartime:
What’s your take on the video?
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21 Comments On "[Passenger Onboard Plane Shares Experience] Crazy Iron Dome Footage Of Plane On Approach To Land In Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport"
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Am yisroel chai!!!
It looks very close from the hike, but being a distance from far away, you can’t see really how close it was really maybe the plane was further away
The defensive system on the El Al planes is for actively seeking missiles, not blindly launched rockets…so it would be of no use in this case.
Thank you for sharing and thank you to all the brave Men and Woman who are flying into Israel now to show support !
+1
Hi Dan,
I think the ELAL missile defense is for guided missiles, like via Radar or Heat-Seeker. But there’s no real defense against the Hamas unguided ones fired at random
Yeah that’s been my assumption also. On the other hand it means that the chance of a direct airplane hit is very unlikely since the plane needs to be in the exact spot of the rocket’s trajectory.
Does the WSJ really claim that Hamas doesn’t target civilian aircraft?
I also found the claim hilarious! T
Sometime tell the guy to google Hamas
+1
But, but, but, moral equivalency!
Not just WSJ, but also the Israeli guy who doesn’t seem to think that Hezbollah would attack a civilian aircraft.
it actually looks like they were quite far, because distance in height changes how close things look and how fast they move.
I think I’m convinced to only fly El Al from now on.
I’ve been on that LY546 flight from ATH-TLV.
We were really about to land with all the lights off and the flight attendants in their seats when from the right side of the plane you could see a missile coming and out of the darkness of the night 2 missiles rose from the ground to intercept the oncoming missile!
It felt pretty close but not as if we could reach it – but it was relatively right near us!
It was enough close that some older children started crying, adults shrieking, etc.
At the same time, the plane felt as if we were taking off once again as we steeply climbed the sky above Tel Aviv we altered directions, the lights were turned on, and were told that due to sirens we were directed away from the airport and will be making some circles – and that we shouldn’t worry as we have enough fuel (as if that was our worry).
It probably was our flight but with the angle at which the video was taken, it looks very different from the air.
(Someone on the plane received a video of a plane flying near the iron dome at work and said that it was our plane)
After landing everyone started singing Am Yisrael chai…
Wow, glad you’re safe!
Do you have any other video you can share with me?
No, I didn’t manage to get anything as we didn’t even hear a siren to warn us – it was basically over before we really understood what was happening…
There might have been others that were filming at that time by chance.
I’ve had a cpl of way closer encounters with flying aircraft. Even seemed like it was a mistake it was so close
With all due respect the Israeli intelligence community has zero credibility right now. They couldn’t predict, prevent, or even mitigate October 7 but they can convince us that planes won’t be shot down?
Time to start landing planes in Haifa airport and expand that airport. It would be a safer and good plan B in these situations. Alternatively, why cant they just land at the private airport in Hertzliah in thus circumstance.
Can you share the Russian airport story?
On exactly what happened there.