AN Air France plane "vanished" from radar before re-appearing and making an emergency landing following a technical problem. The Airbus A340 flown by Air France's low-cost carrier Joon began descending unexpectedly over the city of Isfahan, where it landed. 3 The planes route was tracked on the Flightradar24 website Credit: flightradar24/Twitter Air France said in a statement the plane, operating as flight number AF218, had 256 customers and 11 crew members on board. “Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF218 operated by JOON, between Paris and Mumbai on 8th May 2019, made the decision to divert to Isfahan airport, Iran, following a malfunction of the ventilation system," said the statement. The airline said the decision"was in line with the manufacturer's procedures" and was "precautionary". “Air France confirms that the plane landed normally at Isfahan at 17:00 Paris time and the airline’s teams are fully mobilised to take care of customers at Isfahan International Airport. PRECAUTION “Air France understands and regrets the inconvenience caused by the situation and reminds that the safety of its customers and crews is its absolute priority." Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said local authorities are providing services to passengers, all of whom were in good health. Air traffic monitor FlightRadar24 said the jet signal was lost. It said the pilot issued a "7700 squawk", which suggests a general emergency before it lost contact, it has been reported. 3 The Airbus A340 was on its way from Paris to Mumbai 3 The plane was in the colours of Air France's low cost carrier Joon Credit: Wikipedia We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.'<doc-sep>top stories SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.<doc-sep>An Air France Flight, operated by Joon, traveling from Paris to Mumbai has made an emergency landing in Iran. Following reported issues with the ventilation system, the jet requested emergency clearance and set down in Shahid Beheshti International Airport in Isfahan, Iran. Passengers are unhurt but, at the time of publishing, are now stuck in Dubai still waiting to make their way to Mumbai. What happened? Air France flight number AF218 was operating a nine hour nonstop flight between Paris CDG and Mumbai. The aircraft was an A340-300 registered F-GLZP and operated by low cost subsidiary Joon. Leaving Paris at 11:21am, just a few minutes behind schedule, the flight proceeded as normal until, passing over Iran, there was a deviation. There was panic at one point as the aircraft appeared to turn off its intended flight path, descend and then disappear from radar. 🔴BREAKING🔴 Incident declared by the pilot of flight afr218 near the airport #Shahrekord, #Iran. #joon from #Paris #CDG to Mumbai in #India. Now the flight has disappeared from the map. pic.twitter.com/WZRCMHvTf2 — Strategic News (@StrategicNews1) May 8, 2019 However, fears were allayed when reports began to come in that, in fact, the plane had landed safely at Shahid Beheshti International Airport in Isfahan, Iran, due to a problem with the ventilation. According to reports by Fox News, officials of the airline said that the plane, “decided to divert to Isfahan airport (Iran) following a malfunction of the ventilation system, in line with the manufacturer’s procedures and in accordance with the precautionary principle.” A Twitter user, Gerjon, notes that this is also a military base in Iran, and that some Hercules and fighter jets can be seen on Google Maps imagery. JOON’s A340-300 F-GZLP made an emergency landing at Isfahan, Iran. This is also a military base. On Google Maps imagery, an Il-76, a few C130 Hercules aircraft and a fighter jet can be found.#potn #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/8Y7atJ639a — Gerjon | חריון (@Gerjon_) May 8, 2019 Stuck in Iran? When we heard the news that the plane had landed in Iran, we at Simple Flying were somewhat concerned that this might have been a bigger problem for Joon than they first thought. Regular readers will remember all the headaches poor Norwegian had when their 737 had to make an emergency landing in Iran. However, with this being an Airbus, any parts would have come from Europe, which isn’t subject to the same sanctions as US produced parts were in the case of the Boeing plane. As it happened, the repair process appears to have gone relatively smoothly. According to the Fox News report, the airline said that ‘technical checks’ were undertaken by ‘on-site maintenance teams’, allowing the jet to take off again. It left the airport for Al Maktoum International Dubai Airport at around 11pm. What about the passengers? Although the delay was relatively long, with the Joon aircraft sitting at Shahid Beheshti International Airport for several hours, the carrier clearly felt it was not worth sending a replacement aircraft for them. According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, all 267 passengers were ‘safe and sound’ and were taken care of by local authorities during their unexpected stop in the country. Unfortunately for them, it seems they were not allowed to disembark the aircraft, which must have been painful. @AirFranceFR Q1 – If there was a ventilation issue with #AF218, why were the passengers kept INSIDE the plane for over 7 hrs at Isfahan Airport? Is that not a security risk and even more so plain stupidity? — Prachi Hardikar (@prachihardikar1) May 9, 2019 However, the delay in Iran wasn’t the end of their problems. Once the plane took off again, instead of heading to its original destination of Mumbai, it routed to Dubai. And not Dubai DXB, where there are regular connections to Mumbai, but to the newer DWC, where they have been waiting ever since. Despicable attitude of @AirFranceFR just abandoning passengers on flight #AF218 at Dubai DWC without proper update, information, or services. Shameful coming from such a big airline. — Prachi Hardikar (@prachihardikar1) May 9, 2019 At the time of writing, it appears the passengers have been transferred to DXB where they are being ‘waitlisted’ for an onward connection. Passengers, understandably, are not at all happy. @AirFranceFR after 8 hrs of waiting at DWC, you promised confirmed seats to #AF218 passengers, but after 2 hrs transfer to DXB, they are now being waitlisted at check-in. What nonsense is this? Have they not dealt with enough in past 30 hrs? Pathetic service by AF 😡 — Prachi Hardikar (@prachihardikar1) May 9, 2019 @AirFranceFR @AirFranceIN #AF218 My family in Dubai is now being told their seats are NOT confirmed on the flight to Mumbai , this is after they spent 4 hours in Iran , 8 Hours in DWC and took a transfer shuttle to DXB. They are on the road now for about 40 hours 😡 — Virag Shinde (@ViragShinde) May 9, 2019 This is very poor customer service by @airfrance on #AF218. Total silence over media and social media. Even the families were not personally notified. — Von Lacorte (@vonlacorte) May 9, 2019 Yes. More than 12 hrs — Satheesh Sambandam (@ssambandam) May 9, 2019 Air France are being called out over their poor handling of the situation, in particular the lack of communication between the airline, its passengers and friends / relatives of passengers who don’t know what’s happening. Of course, everyone will be entitled to their €600 compensation payment, but some feel it’s just not enough. Appreciate your efforts and safe landing as you say passengers are getting compensation of 600euro only but what about time, mental harassment and off course health issues. Will you provide any medical favor? That’s also your responsibility.#af218 — parul gandhi (@parul1969) May 9, 2019 We sincerely hope all passengers are transferred to Mumbai as soon as possible.<doc-sep>
An Air France flight from Paris to Mumbai with 256 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Iran after the aircraft's ventilation system malfunctioned. The Airbus A340 plane, flown by the airline's budget carrier Joon, started to unexpectedly descend over the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, yesterday, and a '7700 squawk', indicating an emergency, was issued by the pilot. The AF218 flight, which also had 11 crew, then landed at the city's airport and Air France later said there had been a malfunction of the ventilation system. The status of the flight on air tracker app FlightRadar24 was simpy 'unknown', with the site saying the jet signal was lost, prompting initial fears that the plane had disappeared from radar. But Air France confirmed that they never lost contact with the plane. An Air France flight from Paris to Mumbai with 256 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Iran after the aircraft's ventilation system malfunctioned In a statement, the airline stressed that the landing was 'precautionary' and part of normal procedures in such a situation. 'Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF218 of May 8, 2019 operated by JOON, between Paris (CDG) and Bombay (BOM) in an Airbus A340, has decided to divert to Isfahan airport (Iran) following a malfunction of the ventilation system,' a spokesman said. 'The plane landed normally at Isfahan at 17:00 (Paris time).' 'Air France teams are fully mobilized to take care of customers at Isfahan International Airport. The Airbus A340 plane, flown by the airline's budget carrier Joon, started to unexpectedly descend over the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, yesterday, and a '7700 squawk', indicating an emergency, was issued by the pilot. The AF218 flight, which also had 11 crew, then landed at the city's airport (pictured) The status of the flight on air tracker app FlightRadar24 was simpy 'unknown', with the site saying the jet signal was lost, prompting initial fears that the plane had disappeared from radar 'Air France understands and regrets the inconveniences caused by this situation and reminds that the safety of its customers and crews is its absolute imperative,' they added. Air Traffic monitor FlightRadar24 said the flight disappeared from radar after the jet signal was lost. It said a '7700 squawk' had been issued by the pilot, which indicates an emergency.