Bashar al-Assad’s plane ’disappears’ as family flees Syria amid rebel capture of Damascus

08 December 2024 , 14:51

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Bashar al-Assad’s plane ’disappears’ as family flees Syria amid rebel capture of Damascus

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s plane has disappeared from flight tracking information after he and his family reportedly fled the country as rebels took Damascus

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s plane has vanished as he and his family flee after rebels took hold of Damascus earlier today.

The Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane, operated by Syrian Air, disappeared from flight tracking amid uncertainty over where Assad is and what happened to him and his family after rebels took Damascus. Assad, who has served as president since July 2000 reportedly fled Dmascus after rebel fighters stormed the capital, having advanced quickly to the outskirts.

It has been reported that Assad has left the capital, but his current location is not known. With little to no concrete information, speculation has run rampant that he was on board the now missing plane that departed Damascus at 1.55 UTC this morning.

According to FlightRadar24, the plane was operating as Syrian Air Flight 9218. Shortly after takeoff just before 2am, the flight moved east toward the border with Iraq, before turning north east toward Syria’s Mediterranean coast. The Syrian port of Tartus is home to a Russian strategic naval base, with the Russians previously having played a large part in saving Assad’s government from rebel advances a decade ago. 

When the flight took off, there was no destination listed. Flight tracking data from before the jet disappeared shows the four-engined plane passing over the now rebel-controlled city of Homs and continuing to travel north east before abruptly reversing course as it reached Syria’s mountain range.

The flight travelled back in the direction of Homs before disappearing from flight tracking at 2.32 UTC, just over half an hour after take off. It is not yet clear whether the aircraft stopped transmitting or if the plane went down. According to FlightAware, the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 23,650ft at around 2.10 UTC before it began a steady descent. 

The Syrian air force maintained an air base at Al-Qusayr in the vicinity of Syrian Air 9218’s last known position. That area is now within rebel-controlled territory and the state of the airfield is unknown.

Elizabeth Baker