Israeli Planes Intercept Stray Kuwait Airliner

Israeli jets intercepted a Kuwaiti passenger plane carrying more than 100 people that strayed over the strategic Golan Heights today and escorted it out of Israeli-controlled airspace, a military official said.

The incident followed heightened tension over a Syrian anti-aircraft missile buildup near the Lebanese border. In 1972, Israeli jets shot down a Libyan airliner over what was then Israeli-occupied Sinai, killing scores of passengers.

The military official said the Kuwaiti plane took off from Damascus for Kuwait and entered Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights, regarded by Israel and Syria as a highly sensitive area.

“It crossed the border and penetrated (two miles) into Israeli territory in the area of the Golan Heights,” the official said.

“Israeli planes were directed to it, and it was allowed to proceed on its way after being positively identified as a civilian aircraft that had strayed because of a navigation error. It turned back after its pilots realized their mistake.”

In Kuwait, aviation sources said the plane was an Airbus 310 with about 110 passengers and crew members aboard.

They said the plane took off toward the Golan Heights, climbing to about 1,000 feet before adjusting direction and would not have needed to stray far off course to violate Israeli airspace.

“I think this may be a case in which Israel was feeling unusually sensitive, rather than a serious steering error,” one source familiar with the route said.

The Golan, captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War, has long been prohibited airspace for civilian aircraft.