Flight Plan Dispute Forces Plane with Americans to Land in Iran

A chartered plane carrying 100 Americans from Afgahnistan on its way to Dubai on Friday was ordered to land in Iran, due to some error in its flight plan, said officials.

We realised that the flight information was incorrect and to be sure there was no problem, we asked to pilot to land," said Mohammad Ali Ilkhani, head of the Iranian Airports Organisation, reports the Agence France Press.

The flight  FZ 4359 was grounded for a few hours till matters were sorted out. "We interviewed the pilot and verified his flight documents. The pilot acknowledged there had been errors. He was then allowed to leave," Ilkhani said.

The plane then was allowed to proceed to Bandar Abbas, a port city in the Gulf. It had taken off from the Bagram air base on Friday morning.

The U.S. officials denied reports of fighter jets being scrambled by Iran to force the plane to land and called it a bureaucratic issue, which was amicably solved. "We appreciate the efforts of all parties to help the passengers get safely to their destination," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement, reports the Associated Press.

The flight landed at an airport in Bandar Abbas, a port city on the Gulf. The plane had earlier left Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, US officials said on Friday.