FAA Tells U.S. Airlines Not To Fly To Tel Aviv
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is telling U.S. airlines they are prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport in Israel after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby.
The FAA said in a statement that the ban on flights is for 24 hours beginning at 12:15 p.m. EST on Tuesday.
The statement said the rocket strike landed about one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport Tuesday morning.
The notice only applies to U.S. airlines since the FAA has no authority over carriers from other nations.
The agency said it will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and that updated instructions will be provided to U.S. airlines "as soon as conditions permit, but no later than 24 hours" from the time the directive went into force.
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Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had already said Tuesday they would be suspending service between the U.S. and Israel indefinitely. US Airways scrapped its Tel Aviv service Tuesday and said it is monitoring the situation in regards to future flights.
Delta Air Lines' one daily flight was already in the air. Delta said a Boeing 747 from New York was flying over the Mediterranean headed for Tel Aviv when it turned around and flew to Paris instead. Flight 468 had 273 passengers and 17 crew on board.
A Delta spokesman declined to go beyond the details released in a statement.
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