British Airways Cockpit Video Captures Iranian Missile Attack Against Israel

Without warning–or closing its airspace ahead of the attack–Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel on Tuesday. Video has emerged of the attack from the cockpit of a British Airways flight. The more concerning story, however, is that the plane was there in the first place.

Iranian Missle Attack Against Israel Captured From Cockpit Of British Airways Flight

Video onboard a British Airways flight from London Heathrow (LHR) to Dubai (DXB) shows missiles launched from Iran headed toward Israel. Iran’s response to Israel’s pummeling of Lebanon was expected, but the time, place, and manner of the retaliation was not known before the attack.

Filmed from flight deck of an airliner near Shiraz, Iran. No warning from ATC who had no idea. Turned away immediately. pic.twitter.com/Iq6k6jY9Zm

— Tim L-G (@IntercityFC) October 1, 2024

Thankfully, there was no impact with any commercial jets, but there were many commercial jets in the area when the attacks began. Air Traffic Control was not made aware of the attacks even once they began and scrambled to redirect air traffic away from the corridor between Iran and Israel, which also covered Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Once the attacks began, about 80 flights, operated by not only BA, but Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and others bound for major Middle East hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, were diverted to other cities or turned around and returned to Europe.

It did not take long for the airspace to clear:

FlightRadar24

With Israel promising a response–also at the time of its choosing–European carriers are pulling out of the region, at least on a temporary basis.

Meanwhile, the Lufthansa Group (which includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and SWISS) suspended all flights to Beirut (BEY) until November 30, flights to Tel Aviv (TLV) until October 31, and flights to Tehran (IKA) until October 14. KLM has also suspended flights to Tel Aviv through the end of 2024.

I’ll save my opinions on the conflict for another day, but we should all be very thankful that no civilian aircraft was hit by any Iranian rockets. As the region teeters on a further escalation of war, downing civilian aircraft is a needless way to expand the conflict.

top image: @IntercityFC / X