Egypt dismisses allegations British plane dodged rocket in August

Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid dismissed allegations made by the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper that a British passenger plane dodged a rocket as it approached Sharm el-Sheikh in August.

The plane, which was carrying 189 passengers, “came within 1,000 feet” of a rocket as it approached Sharm el-Sheikh, the Daily Mail claimed. 

The tabloid newspaper added, “The Thomson flight from London Stansted only took evasive action after the pilot spotted the missile speeding through the air.” 

Abu Zeid said the claims were “preposterous” and “completely inaccurate” on his Twitter account.

The next day, the Independent quoted a Department for Transport spokesperson who said investigations showed "it [the alleged missile] was likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time,” rather than a targeted attack.

Abu Zeid asserted that “ground-to-ground firing exercises” were being carried out at a military base a few kilometers from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, rather than ground-to-air firing." But he claimed, “Egypt & UK [governments] are fully aware that the plane was in no danger." 

“Airlines were previously informed of military exercises and instructed about procedures,” Abu Zeid added. 

The Daily Mail quoted a source saying the first officer was in charge at the time of the incident, but that the pilot was in the cockpit and saw the rocket coming towards the plane.

“He ordered that the flight turn to the left to avoid the rocket, which was about 1,000ft away,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying. 

“The shaken staff were offered the chance to stay the night in Egypt, but chose to head straight back to the UK on a flight that took off with no internal or external lights,” the newspaper added.  

This comes as Egypt scrambles to fend off allegations that a Russian plane crashed in Sinai last week as a result of a terrorist attack. 

Several airlines and countries suspended flights over Sinai, bringing Egypt’s security measures into question.

For the past week, Russian and Egyptian officials have repeatedly emphasized that the cause of the crash remains unknown and the media shouldn’t jump to conclusions, amid rampant speculations that the plane was brought down by a bomb.