Global General

Israeli airport grounds planes due to fuel scare

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-06 13:23

JERUSALEM - The top official at Israel's international airport says all flights that had been grounded due to fears of contaminated jet fuel have either left Israel or can leave as soon as airlines schedule their departure.

Shmuel Kendel, managing director of Ben-Gurion International Airport, says the contaminant has not been identified. Even so, he discounted the possibility of sabotage in interviews with Israeli radio stations.

All flights from Israel were grounded Thursday afternoon.

They began taking off overnight after being fueled with small amounts of jet fuel from uncontaminated emergency reserves. They were then to make stops in nearby Jordan or Cyprus to fill their tanks.

Kendel said he had no reports of engine trouble from flights that left before the grounding order was issued.