Baghdad flights disrupted after bullets hit plane

A plane of low-cost carrier flydubai was hit by "small arms fire" on Monday, a company spokesperson said. All passengers were able to disembark normally and none required medical attention at the airport, the Dubai government-owned carrier said.

"There was no consequence other than a slight injury to a young girl. The pilot landed and he was not aware of what had happened," Iraqi transport minister Baqr Jabr al-Zubaidi told reporters at the airport.

"What happened was an accident," he said.

Shooting in the air

Al-Zubaidi also stated that the the plane was hit at an altitude of 600 meters (2,000 feet) by what he judged was a light machine gun.

Authorities believe the shooting was unintentional, the minister said, adding that the three rounds which hit the fuselage possibly came from someone firing off rounds at a social event such as a wedding or funeral. Shooting in the air is not uncommon at such social events in Iraq. Still, the officials are not ruling out the possibility that the plane was targeted on purpose.

Al-Zubaidi also said that the officials have examined the location from where the shots allegedly came from.

Security was tightened after the incident, and a security official told Reuters authorities had rounded up suspects in farmlands south of the airport, which lies on the city's western outskirts.

IS worries airline carriers

Flydubai, Emirates Airlines, Sharjah's Air Arabia and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways suspended their flights on Tuesday after the shooting, following a directive from the United Arab Emirates' civil aviation authority.

Following the shooting, the Emirati foreign ministry had summoned the Iraqi ambassador to Abu Dhabi to express serious concern about the incident, and demanded that the Iraqi officials launch a "comprehensive investigation ... and take necessary measures to enforce international agreements on civil aviation safety," according to a ministry statement.

Although Baghdad International Airport is guarded by an extensive securty perimeter and surrounded by concrete blast walls, it also positioned west of the city, near the Anbar province which is mostly under control of "Islamic State"(IS) militants. During recent months, Western carriers have taken extra precautions when flying over Iraq, worrying that IS fighters might be capable to obtain weapons to bring down civilian planes.

dj/bw (AFP, Reuters, AP)