UPDATE — 7:45 p.m. ET: The plane carrying Americans has safely landed in Dubai:
Update: Fly Dubai non-USG charter plane that was re-routed to Iran today bc of issue involving the plane’s flight plan has landed in Dubai.
— Marie Harf (@marieharf) September 5, 2014
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say a commercial aircraft chartered by the U.S.-led military in Afghanistan was re-routed to Iran, apparently because of a mix-up over its flight plan.
The plane was flying from Bagram airfield north of Kabul to Dubai on Friday. The normal flight path goes through Iranian airspace.
One official says Iranians radioed the plane's crew to say they did not have the proper paperwork and to return to Bagram. The pilots said they did not have enough fuel to return so the Iranian authorities told them to land in Iran.
A senior State Department official says the issue appears to have been resolved and the plane is expected to take off again Friday afternoon.
The officials are not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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