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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Ministry of Transport of the United States have extended the prohibition against certain flights in the Simferopol (UKFV) and Dnipropetrovsk (UKDV) Flight Information Regions (FIRs) until October 27, 2016, according to a rule by the FAA on October 27, 2015, published in the Federal Register of the United States Government.
"The FAA has continued to evaluate the situation in the UKFV and UKDV FIRs and has determined there is a continuing significant flight safety hazard to U.S. civil aviation from the ongoing risk of skirmishes in the area. There is also a potential for larger-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine involving pro-Russian separatists, which could result in civil aircraft being misidentified as a threat and then intercepted or otherwise engaged, as demonstrated by the shoot down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014," the report says.
According to the U.S. authorities, pro-Russian separatists have access to a variety of anti-aircraft weapons, to include man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and possibly more advanced surface-to-air-missiles (SAMs) that have the capability to engage aircraft at higher altitudes.
Read alsoEUROCONTROL Director General: We plan to open Western Ukraine and Black Sea area to European air carriers "Separatists have demonstrated their ability to use these anti-aircraft weapons by successfully shooting down a number of aircraft during the course of the fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014. There is also continuing concern over the hazard to U.S. civil aviation from possible conflicting air traffic control instructions from Ukrainian and Russian air traffic service providers due to a dispute over responsibility for providing air navigation services in portions of the Simferopol (UKFV) FIR. In addition, there have been reported incidents of purposeful interference, including GPS jamming, in the UKFV and UKDV FIRs.
Read alsoRussia's supply of weaponry to Donbas used to shoot down MH-17 constitutes war crime – Klimkin The rule extends the existing prohibition against U.S. civil flight operations in the UKFV and UKDV FIRs of December 29, 2014.
This action continues the prohibition on flight operations in the UKFV and UKDV FIRs by all U.S. air carriers; U.S. commercial operators; persons exercising the privileges of a U.S. airman certificate, except when such persons are operating a U.S.-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and operators of U.S.-registered civil aircraft, except when such operators are foreign air carriers.