German authorities briefly closed an airport and scrambled fighter jets to escort a passenger plane on Tuesday following an emergency alert indicating a hijacking was taking place on board.
asserted
hijacking → close → board
However, the alert had been accidentally triggered by a radio “malfunction”.
asserted
alert → trigger → malfunction
Corendon Airlines said its Boeing 737-800, which was en route from the Greek holiday island of Corfu to Nuremberg, Germany, sent out an emergency code while it was flying over Croatia “due to a brief malfunction in the radio communication system”.
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it → say → system
In a statement, the airline said that “no emergency situation occurred”, and the 178 passengers, flight crew and aircraft had not been in danger at any point.
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passengers → say → point
The plane landed safely in Nuremberg.
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plane → land → Nuremberg
What happened?
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What → happen → ?
German police said Corendon Airlines flight XR456 “inadvertently” sent out an emergency “squawk” alert with the code 7500 while flying over Croatia on Tuesday.
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flight → say → Tuesday
A squawk is a four-digit code a pilot sends via the jet’s transponder to air traffic control.
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pilot → send → control
The code 7500 tells air traffic controllers that a hijacking is in progress.
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hijacking → tell → progress
However, air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the pilots or crew, causing the alarm to be raised further.
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alarm → make → pilots
It is unclear why this happened.
uncertain
this → happen → ?
“The aircraft could no longer be reached by radio to clarify the situation”, prompting warnings to be activated in several European countries, police said.
uncertain
police → reach → countries
A Rafale fighter jet was scrambled from Croatia to intercept the Boeing passenger jet, while the German military also dispatched warplanes.
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military → scramble → warplanes
Police cordoned off the Albrecht Dürer airport in Nuremberg as a precaution until they knew the reason the pilot had sent the hijack alert.
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pilot → cordone → alert
Police spokesman Michael Petzold explained that authorities had “received a code directly from the cockpit that suggested a hijacking”.
“Since we were then unable to reach the cockpit, and the tower was also unable to contact the cockpit, we had to assume the worst – that it might indeed be a hijacking,” Petzold said.
uncertain
Petzold → explain → worst
The incident disrupted flights, with six flights delayed and two inbound flights diverted to other airports as a precaution, a Nuremberg airport spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → disrupt → precaution
The hijack scare has come amid heightened concerns about aviation security after the copilot on board a Flydubai jet bound for Israel from Dubai attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on September 30.
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copilot → come → September
On Friday, the United Arab Emirates’ prosecutor general said the copilot was on a “suicide” mission to crash the plane at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv and called the incident a “terrorist attack”.
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copilot → say → incident
Also, before the false hijack alert in the early hours of Tuesday, flights had been briefly disrupted at Nuremberg airport after pilots reported suspected drone sightings.
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pilots → disrupt → sightings
Authorities across Europe have already stepped up surveillance of the skies in recent weeks after a series of mostly mysterious drone incidents and concerns about Russian hybrid warfare.
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Authorities → step → warfare
Western nations, including Germany, have accused Moscow of launching a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disruption to undermine European support for Ukraine and destabilise the continent.
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nations → include → continent
Several German airports have had to suspend operations for brief periods in recent months due to drone activity, with suspicion often falling on Russia.
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suspicion → have → Russia
Last month, the German government blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle airport in August using a drone laden with explosives.
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government → blame → explosives
Berlin closed the Russian consulate among other measures.
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Berlin → close → measures
Vladimir Putin dismissed the allegations, saying Berlin “fabricated” the evidence.
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Berlin → dismiss → evidence
However, in light of the concerns, NATO’s top general told the Warsaw Security Forum earlier this week that the alliance has a new war plan for countering a Russian attack on its members, embedding lessons learned from the Ukrainian front lines.
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alliance → tell → lines
Radio glitches are common, but incidents rarely escalate to major security events because pilots use back-up radios to communicate with air traffic controllers when they lose communication signals.
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they → escalate → signals
In 2019, a pilot flying an Air Europa jet from Amsterdam to Madrid accidentally transmitted hijack alert 7500.
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pilot → fly → alert
For half an hour, aviation authorities thought the alarm was a genuine emergency and followed safety protocols, which disrupted flights and led to the evacuation of part of Schipol airport in the Netherlands.
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which → think → Netherlands
In 2011, a flight from Chicago to Germany was diverted to Toronto when a pilot spilled coffee and accidentally set off a hijack alarm.
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pilot → divert → alarm
The spill caused distress signals to go out, including the 7500 transponder code.
asserted
signals → cause → code
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