Qatari air force jet again threatens safety of civilian aircraft from UAE

A Qatari fighter jet flew within 220 metres of a UAE civilian aircraft over Bahrain yesterday.

The aircraft was carrying 86 passengers, including seven children, and was flying on an approved route, the state news agency Wam reported.

The fighter, a Mirage 2000, flew within 3 vertical kilometres and 215 horizontal metres of the registered aircraft.

It is the fifth time a Qatari aircraft has approached a UAE plane over a country’s airspace.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said the manoeuvre left only seconds before a collision between the two aircraft, endangering the lives of those on board.

“We will file a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organisation regarding this infringement,” the authority said.

“The threat of passenger safety in any way is unacceptable.

“The incident is a clear repetition of the threat to the safety of civil aviation and a violation of international laws and conventions.”

Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the authority, told Sky News Arabia that the incident was “the greatest form of terrorism: using military weapons against civilians”.

Mr Al Suwaidi confirmed that the UAE would be filing another official complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a UN agency.

Mirage 2000 jets can fly up to 2,400kph, he said, and if the jet intended to move closer to the aircraft, “a collision could have occurred within just a blink of an eye”.

“A fighter jet flying that close to a defenceless civilian aircraft is an act of intimidation and a show of power,” Mr Al Suwaidi said. “If this is not stopped from happening again it could lead to an accident.”

Last month, Qatari fighter jets came within just 200 metres of a UAE-registered aircraft in what was described as a dangerous escalation of the harassment of the UAE by the country’s civil aviation authority.

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, have imposed travel, diplomatic and trade sanctions on Qatar since last June.

The sanctions were in protest against Doha’s support for terrorism and meddling in the internal affairs of its neighbours.