FlyDubai flight 1942 took off last Thursday from Tashkent, Uzbekistan en-route to Dubai. Onboard the flight was a 19 year old female Israeli soldier, who had been visiting her family in Uzbekistan.
FlyDubai flies 4 times daily between Tel Aviv and Dubai and sister company Emirates flies twice daily on the route.
A passenger onboard had a medical emergency and the plane diverted to Shiraz, Iran.
The plane then sat on the ground in Iran for an excruciating 9 hours as Israeli Prime Minister Lapid was informed of the situation as he was negotiating a final maritime border agreement with Lebanon over offshore gas reserves.
The Mossad rushed to contact her and told her not to divulge her identity or speak in Hebrew, while it worked on contingency plans to help her escape if needed.
It’s unclear if the soldier used her Russian or Israeli passport, but at any rate, it appears that Iran never learned that an Israeli soldier was in their airport for 9 hours.
Israeli soldier, in Shiraz👇https://t.co/Cg1uApERgv
— avi scharf (@avischarf) November 2, 2022
It’s eerily reminiscent of Apple TV’s hit show Tehran, where some Israeli passengers accidentally wind up in Tehran after a emergency diversion. In that episode, one couple said they purchased tickets on Royal Jordanian to New Delhi via Amman to save some shekels versus flying direct on El Al.
It’s a worthwhile reminder that if you do fly on an airline that flies over a country like Afghanistan or Iran, you do run the small risk of finding yourself on the ground of a country where you don’t want to be.
Luckily, all’s well that ends well in this case.
Leave a Reply
25 Comments On "Life Imitating Art: A Plane With An Israeli Soldier Diverted To Iran Last Week"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Sometimes strange fiction, becomes grim reality..
Tehran is great! (The show, not the city..)
it’s against every international rule to detain any passengers when a plane has to make an emergency landing. supposedly this is far from the first time
Iran follows international law?
Have a link to when another active Israeli soldier wound up in Iran accidentally?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-plane-with-an-idf-soldier-aboard-diverted-to-iran-departed-without-incident/
That’s literally an article on this story. 😀
Belarus went one step further, forcing a plane to land under pretense of a fake bomb threat. They did this in order to arrest a dissident journalist. It was widely condemned, but Lukashenko didn’t care.
Exactly.
Wow freaky
Iran does not follow any rules, especially now during all the turmoil in their country with constant protesting.. Barouch Hashem they did not find out her identity.
Curious why this story would be publicized in case it happens again in the future c”v
Wow!
Chasdei Hashem
Air Canada warns about cannabis on domestic flights, that have a chance to divert to the USA
“In the case of a domestic flight, please be advised that unforeseen situations may and do arise that require a domestic flight to divert to a U.S. airport, where arriving in possession of cannabis is not legal.”
https://www.aircanada.com/us/en/aco/home/plan/peace-of-mind/travel-tips.html#/
Price being equal, what airline should i fly to israel with from NY? El Al, Delta, United or American?
Is there a article on this i can read or can you let me know youre ranking
Any difference?
Your last paragraph actually makes me rethink my perspective on recommending people to fly EK. A flight from DXB to JFK literally makes a direct line straight through Iran…. Doesn’t feel very comfortable.
If your American I doubt they’ll do anything, Israeli though is different story
Aren’t situations like this a downside in flying Turkish Airlines?
JFK-IST-TLV doesn’t pass over Iran.
Price being equal, what airline should i fly to israel with from NY? El Al, Delta, United or American?
Where in NY? DL and AA fly out of JFK UA fly out of EWR LY fly out of both. What time of day do you want to fly?…
I live in the city so can go through either EWR or Queens. Im flexible with time as well.
I just want to know for this long flight, what airline is the best. I’ve only flown El Al in the past
Reminds me of Shmuel Kunda’s Where’s Zaidy!
Do Royal Jordanian flights from JFK to TLV via Amman pass over or near Iran?
No