A flight from Greece to Germany landed safely in Nuremberg. The incident, which stemmed from a false hijacking alert, prompted the German Air Force to dispatch two fighters.
Reason for the Alert
Corendon Airlines attributed the alert to a disruption in the radio communication system, stating that "no emergency occurred and at no time were passengers, crew, or the aircraft in danger."
The incident occurred when a Boeing 737-800, which had taken off from the island of Crete in Greece, was en route to Nuremberg. The event temporarily suspended operations at Nuremberg Airport, but flights soon returned to normal.
Response from the German Air Force
The German police reported that code '7500' (related to hijacking) was sent from the cockpit, after which communication with the pilot was lost. Consequently, several alert operations were activated for safety.
A spokesperson for the German Air Force stated that two Eurofighter jets were scrambled from the Neuburg Air Base in southern Germany to escort the passenger aircraft until it landed in Nuremberg. Overall, the German Air Force has two alert teams, each consisting of two fighters, to assess situations when communication with civilian aircraft pilots is lost.
This alert was issued less than a month after an attack on the pilot of a plane flying from Dubai to Israel, where the co-pilot attacked the pilot with an emergency axe, an incident that the Attorney General of the UAE labeled as a "terrorist attack."
Corendon stated that the emergency code was sent in Croatian airspace due to a brief disruption in the radio communication system. The situation was immediately monitored, and investigations were swiftly initiated. Ultimately, the aircraft landed safely at Nuremberg Airport.
Additionally, a possible sighting of a drone also caused disruptions in air traffic at Nuremberg Airport last night. German authorities have been on high alert since an unsuccessful attack last August involving a bomb-laden drone.
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