An Airbus A340 operated by Joon, a subsidiary of Air France, has encountered a problem while flying over Iran where it made an emergency landing on May 8, 2019.
The aircraft, registered F-GLZP, was carrying out flight AF218 from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Mumbai International Airport (BOM) when it sent a distress signal 7700 per transponder. It then proceeded to land to the nearest airport, Isfahan International Airport (IFN) in central Iran.
Air France explained the crew decided to “divert to the airport of Isfahan (Iran) following a malfunction of the ventilation system in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures and in application of the principle of precaution.”
Air France confirme que l’équipage du vol AF218 du 8 mai 2019 opéré par JOON, effectuant la liaison Paris (CDG) Bombay (BOM) en Airbus A340 a décidé de se dérouter vers l’aéroport de Isfahan (Iran) à la suite d’un dysfonctionnement du circuit de ventilation. 1/3
— Air France FR (@AirFranceFR) May 8, 2019
Mansoor Glass, director general of Isfahan Governor’s Crisis Management, reported to the Iranian news agency IRNA that all passengers on the aircraft were “in good health”.
After technical checks by local maintenance teams, the aircraft departed for Al Maktoum International Dubai Airport (DWC). “Customers will be taken care of by Air France teams for a re-routing to Mumbai on other airlines as soon as possible,” said a spokesperson from Air France.
Joon is living its last months. Indeed, one of the first decisions of Air France’s new CEO Benjamin Smith was to incorporate the “millennial” carrier into its parent airline.
From December 14, 2018, to February 22, 2019, one of Norwegian Air Shuttle’s brand-new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was ‘stuck’ in an airport in Iran after it was forced to perform an unscheduled landing in the city of Shiraz due to engine problems. For 8 weeks, Norwegian battled sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran to ship a replacement engine for its Boeing 737 MAX. As for anything that contains more than 10% of U.S.-made parts, the approbation of Washington was required.