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Bachar Bzeih

MEA Plane Intercepted By Greek Fighter Jets

On Wednesday, August 10, a Middle East Airlines flight heading from Madrid to Beirut was intercepted over Greece by two F-16s. The MEA Airbus A321 was reportedly unresponsive to communication, leading the Greek authorities to declare a “Code Renegade” in coordination with the NATO Air Control Centre in Spain.

According to the Greek City Times, the two F-16 fighters approached the MEA flight “over Argolida, in north-eastern Peloponnese” and “made a mid-air encounter with the unresponsive aircraft around 7:30 pm.” After making sure that no problems were afoot, and re-establishing contact with the pilot, they disengaged.



The Greek City Times reported that “the pilot had forgotten to tune the instruments to the correct frequency.”

Aircraft tracking Twitter account @Intel_Sky also reported on the incident. Intel Sky corroborated the Greek City Times’ reporting and added that their own sources believe “the pilot Abed Al-Hout, son of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Middle East Airlines, Mohammed Al-Hout” was the one responsible for the error.

According to L’Orient Today, caretaker Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said that he was informed by MEA that the pilots leading the flight have all the required technical knowledge to carry out their mission.




The incident has raised mockery of and serious accusations against nepotism at the Banque du Liban owned national carrier. The lives of 145 passengers were put in immediate danger by the error, making this a cautionary tale of the dangers of corruption for many. For others, it was another source of embarrassment for Lebanon on the global stage.

For us, it raises interesting questions about whether whales can actually fly.


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