All U.S. airlines are now required to have authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration or another U.S. governmental agency before flying in the airspace above Iraq.
All flights are prohibited “due to the potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict” according to the agency.
The announcement came after two airstrikes that targeted the Islamic State militants outside of Erbil.
Officials stated that the FAA’s ban will be reevaluated by the end of the year.
Every American airline company was banned from flying into Israel’s main airport because of a Hamas rocket that fell near the airport grounds.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued the edict around noon Tuesday, leaving thousands of Americans and Israelis unable to travel to the Holy Land.
“At 12:15 EDT on July 22, 2014, the FAA issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) informing U.S. airlines that they are prohibited from flying to or from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport for a period of up to 24 hours,” read the alert posted on the FAA website. “The notice was issued in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport on the morning of July 22, 2014. The NOTAM applies only to U.S. operators, and has no authority over foreign airlines operating to or from the airport.”
Strangely, edicts like this have not been issued for ongoing war zones such as Syria or Iraq.
Over 160 flights were cancelled into Ben Gurion Airport.
German airline Lufthansa announced they would be cancelling flights into the airport for at least two days after the FAA’s order.
Chinese officials have confirmed they are looking at a proposal to create a network of satellites that would allow them to spy on any part of the planet.
The system is reportedly gaining a boost because of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight that has eluded any search efforts. Several members of the Chinese leadership say a Chinese operated worldwide surveillance network would have found the aircraft.
“If we had a global monitoring network today, we wouldn’t be searching in the dark,” a source told Australia’s News Limited. “We would have a much greater chance to find the plane and trace it to its final position.”
The current Chinese satellite system reportedly only allows the country to spy on their nation and surrounding countries. However, the proposed system would be so detailed and significantly upgraded in technology to current systems that it would place China ahead of the United States in global surveillance.
If the government goes ahead with funding the plan, the network could be in place and operational within two years.
Military officials are now releasing radar information that shows the missing Malaysia Airlines flight likely was flown hundreds of miles off course leading investigators to believe foul play was the cause of the disappearance.
The military track shows the plane turned west after leaving Malaysia on a corridor that is usually seen for flights that would be heading to the Middle East.
Aviation experts say the path of the flight was carrying it between navigational waypoints leaving it undetected to most of the current systems in place to track aircraft. The flight was tracked by military radar off the country’s northwest coast, hundreds of miles from the scheduled flight path.
Military investigators say that shows the pilots of the craft had knowledge of the navigational waypoints.
A senior Malaysian police official said sabotage or hijack are now being considered as the likely reasons for the plane’s sudden change in course.
Malaysian military says that a Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared on Saturday night could have been miles off course over the Strait of Malacca rather than over the open ocean.
The military also says that it appears the two men who boarded the flight using stolen passports were not terrorists but men fleeing Iran to ask for asylum in Europe. Officials would not say if terrorism was still a focus of the investigation.
The last day has proven to cause more questions than answers as searchers discovered the oil slicks found in the ocean were not connected to the flight. They also discovered that some of the debris that was thought to be parts of the aircraft is nothing more than flotsam that had gathered together.
The U.S. Navy has sent ships and at least three search and rescue helicopters into the area to try and find debris or survivors.
The airline has reportedly offered $3,000 to the family members of everyone on the flight while saying they were not going to stop rescue efforts.
Two volcanoes in Indonesia have erupted sending thousands fleeing and destroying entire crops.
Mount Sinabung first erupted Thursday in the early morning hours sending a plume of ash 23,000 feet into the air in the Karo region of North Sumatra. The mountain then erupted again just before noon with an ash plume that rose 16,400 feet.
Government officials rushed at least 5,500 residents away from the area.
Then today Mount Sinabung was the second Indonesia volcano to erupt in a span of hours. Mount Merapi exploded just before 5 a.m. local time send a plume of ash 6500 feet into the air. Hours later, Mount Sinabung erupted stronger than ever with an ash cloud rising 26,500 feet into the air.
The Indonesian Transportation Ministry has issued a statement to all airlines telling them to avoid the airspace surrounding the volcanoes because of the ash and their current instability.
The ash from the volcanoes has destroyed the crops of farmers surrounding the mountain who depend on their crops to live. A local farmer told the Jakarta Globe the losses to farmers in the region could end up in the billions. He said some of the farm land has been so damaged by the volcanoes they can no longer be used for farming.
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire.