Leg 117, Ben Gurion, Israel via Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to Iskenderun, Turkey
DAY12_17.PLN (9.7 KB)
Six countries today and a bit of no man’s land, dotted borders with disputed space in between, labeled United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone. History runs deep here.
12-17 Ben Gurion LLBG 3:57 AM
12-17 Jerusalem LLJR 4:11 AM Temple mount
12-17 I.Bar-Yehuda LLMZ 4:36 AM
12-17 Queen Alia Intl OJAI 4:56 AM
12-17 Marka Intl OJAM 5:09 AM
12-17 Zarqa OJ38 5:15 AM
12-17 King Hussein OJMF 5:28 AM
!2-17 Ramat David LLRD 5:57 AM Nazareth to the right on approach
12-17 Haifa LLHA 6:06 AM
12-17 Judeida Makr LLJU 6:13 AM
12-17 M.I. Ben-Yaakov LLIB 6:23 AM
12-17 Kiryat-Shmona LLKS 6:32 AM
12-17 Mezze OS67 6:54 AM
12-17 Damascus Intl OSDI 7:06 AM
12-17 Dumayr OS61 7:16 AM
12-17 Rayak AB OLRA 7:39 AM
12-17 Beirut Intl OLBA 7:58 AM
12-17 Jdaidet el Matn OLJD 8:06 AM Short sloped runway
12-17 Wujah Al Hajar Z19O 8:23 AM
12-17 Rene Mouawad AB OLKA 8:35 AM
12-17 Al Qusayr OS70 8:49 AM
12-17 Shayrat OS65 8:58 AM
12-17 Hama OS58 9:16 AM
12-17 Abu Ad Duhur OS57 9:35 AM
12-17 Aleppo Intl OSAP 9:54 AM
Autopilot broken, instant nose dive -100% trim, won’t recover, restart
12-17 Aleppo Intl OSAP 10:02 AM
12-17 Hatay LTDA 10:29 AM
12-17 Hatay LTAK 10:41 AM
Flight time 6:36 26 stops
Jerusalem, capital of both Israel and Palestine. Temple mount with the gold dome on the left.
Since its first settlement, 4th century BC, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times.
Dome of the rock on the temple mount, first build around 690 AD, rebuild in 1022 AD
Western wall with the temple mount in the background on the left
Jaffa gate on the right, one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem
Yad Vashem, memorial complex to the Holocaust victims
Jerusalem on the way out on the Palestinian side, flying over Bethlehem to the Dead Sea
Bar Yehuda Airfield on the Dead Sea next to Masada National Park
The Dead Sea, 430.5 meters below sea level
Near 10 times as salty as the ocean, sink or swim does not apply, you’ll float without any effort
I’m flying at -1,300 ft here
Without intervention (which is being worked on) the Dead Sea could be all dried up by 2050
Amman, the capital of Jordan
Amman Citadel on the left, rainbow street on the right
Roman Amphitheater and Temple of Hercules
Flying by Nazareth, back in Israel
Ramat David airport with Nahalal moshav and Kfar Yehoshua moshav
Apparently a moshav is a cooperative agricultural community (didn’t know that)
Haifa, port city built in tiers up the slopes of Mount Carmel
Bahá’í Gardens consisting of 19 terraces up to the domed Bahai shrine on Mt Carmel
Passing the Sea of Galilee
Mount Herman between Syria and Lebanon, 9,232 ft high
Popular ski resort next to Nimrod Fortress National Park
Damascus, the capital of Syria
October war panorama on the left, Al-Hamidiya Souq, the largest and the central souq in Syria
A souq is a bazaar, a free-market where vendors can say the going market price for their products. Another word learned today.
Dumayr, Ble military airport
On to Rayak, weather incoming
Beirut International Airport
Beirut, the capital of Lebanon
Home to the Raouche rocks and the Mohammed Al Amin Mosque
Beirut also offers a tricky landing site, Jdaidet el Matn Airport OLJD
Flying along the Mediterranean coast, passing by Hay El Baalbekiyeh
Wujah Al Hajar
Tripoli, northernmost seaport in Lebanon
Flying through soup while the sun goes down, Citadel of Homs in Syria down below
Orontos river and dam
Aleppo, the largest city in Syria before the Civil War (ongoing)
The waxing crescent moon over Aleppo
Aleppo citadel and Al-Raman Mosque
The Great Unmayyad Mosque, one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world
UNESCO world heritage site, heavily damaged during the civil war, 1000 year old minaret destroyed
Asagioba, a glowing runway makes landing easy. Hatay Airport, Turkey
On the way to my last stop for the day
Belen in the valley between the windmills
Iskenderun, historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon
That was a lot of history and conflict along the way. I never realized how closely it was all packed together here. Flying over it all puts things into perspective.