
Snowden's flight from Moscow to Havana passes over US airspace.  - teawithcarl
https://twitter.com/williamsjon/status/348779748207505408
======
andr
On June 20th, the flight did not pass through US territory:
[http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFL150/history/20130620/1...](http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFL150/history/20130620/1005Z/UUEE/MUHA)

Perhaps strings can be pulled so it takes the same route again.

~~~
iaskwhy
Small trivia: that path goes close to the Azores where the USAF has an
airbase.

~~~
andr
I'm sure this will not be a matter to be resolved by fighter jets. This is a
regular commercial jet and if asked to land by air traffic control, it will
land instead of going rogue. So as long as it stays off actual US airspace, it
should be fine.

~~~
iaskwhy
I wasn't implying they would shot his plane. I could imagine the USAF "asking"
the pilot to land on the airbase but I don't think any of these things will
happen to him.

~~~
ibejoeb
The captain is not going to comply with such a request. An unscheduled landing
is, if not illegal in a relevant jurisdiction, at least unnecessarily risky.

~~~
foobarqux
It has happened before. I think one of the original digital cash (e-gold,
digicash) executives was arrested this way but I can't find the story now.

------
mike_esspe
Here is the map of SU150 (Sheremetyevo - Jose Marti) flight path on 22nd June:

[http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFL150/history/20130622/1...](http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFL150/history/20130622/1005Z/UUEE/MUHA)

------
w1ntermute
Can someone explain why Snowden is going this way instead of going over the
Pacific to Venezuela?

~~~
1337biz
Plus why didn't they charter a plane? I'm sure Russia has quite a few rusty
Tupolevs standing around and pilots that can probably even fly blindfolded the
route to Havana.

But maybe the idea is some form of human-shield and protection against unhappy
"accidents" by relying on regular passenger flights.

~~~
danenania
This is a smart move. There is no way the US will use force against a
passenger plane just to get Snowden, so the pilot can safely ignore any US
demands and continue on to Havana regardless of air space and threats, though
it will take guts. Perhaps there will be a last minute shift change and a GRU
pilot will end up in the cockpit.

------
doktrin
This strikes me as a non-issue. This case is far too high profile for the US
to risk the diplomatic and PR fallout from forcing or otherwise coercing a
commercial airliner to land unexpectedly.

~~~
brudgers
And it's a Russian airline. Should there be a diplomatic incident, Russia has
the means to carry out diplomacy by other means. A flight from Moscow was not
chosen by lowest cost on Travelocity. Everyone is wearing big boy pants.

