http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189791/Air-France-pilot-asks-passengers-chip-fuel-unscheduled-landing-Damascus.html
This is your captain panhandling… Air France pilot asks passengers to chip in for fuel after unscheduled landing in Damascus

Captain diverts to Syria after realising he does not have enough fuel to reach Amman in Jordan

Crew ask passengers for cash after being unable to pay for fuel using company credit card

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By
Sam AdamsPassengers on an Air France flight
were asked to 'chip in for fuel' after their plane was forced to land in
the strife-torn Syrian capital Damascus.
The
jet from Paris had been heading to Beirut, Lebanon, when fighting broke
out on the main road to the airport on Wednesday night.
The captain first decided to divert to Amman in Jordan before realising he did not have enough fuel to get there.





Money: Crew on the Air France flight asked passengers to chip in for fuel after the jet landed in war-torn Syria



So
he requested emergency permission to land in Syria, where rebels are
battling to overturn President Bashar Assad's tyrannical regime.
Once
on the ground in Damascus, the crew told the 174 passengers they could
not use the Air France 'company credit card' to refuel the plane because
of financial sanctions imposed on Syria by the west.




They then asked the mainly
French and Lebanese travellers how much cash they were carrying to pay
for the thousands of litres of kerosene needed to reach Larnaca in
Cyprus - the nearest safe airport.A 42-year-old passenger named Najib said: 'We went down in Syria where there were lots of soldiers looking very threatening.





Diverted: The plane's captain diverted to Damascus after realising he did not have enough fuel to reach Amman in Jordan


'We were then told there were some problems and that there was no money to pay for the fuel.


'They asked if the passengers could contribute for the refueling which could only be paid for in cash.'

But the Lebanese businessman added: 'As
people were rummaging through their handbags and wallets, we were told a
solution had been found to the problem.'A 23-year-old engineer called Roland
tolkd France's AFP news agency later: 'We could see through the window a
lot of haggling going on because Air France's fuel account with
Damascus had been cancelled after they stopped flying in March.





Dangerous: Syria has been torn apart by fighting during the past few months


'Because of the terrible relations between France and Syria, a lot of the passengers were very worried about landing there.'


An
Air France spokesman later confirmed to AFP that the passengers had
been asked for money after in landed in Damascus on Wednesday.
He
added: "The crew at first offered to pay for the fuel in Damascus with a
credit card but the transaction was impossible because of financial
sanctions.
'As a precaution and in anticipation, the crew asked how much money the passengers had in cash to pay to fill up with fuel.


'However
a solution was finally found to fill up the plane without borrowing
cash from the passengers and the plane took off for Larnaca two hours
later.'
The plane flew on to Beirut the following day, he said.


In
December last year, passengers on board a flight with Austrian airline
Comtel Air were asked to pay for fuel during a stop in Vienna after the
carrier ran out of cash.