Yeah, shades of Helios or NWA. Helios was hypoxia, and NWA was sheer inattention. I was able to get more info. I do not wish to condemn anybody or malign any organization. But perhaps we can all learn from it.
Apparently somewhere over France the captain had to use the toilet and left the First Officer in the cockpit. While he was gone ATC handed the Arik flight over to another frequency. It is not clear whether the First Officer acknowledged the transmission and if he did indeed change frequency to the new one. As soon as the captain returned, the F/O in turn decided to use the toilet. He too returned some time later, and neither pilot briefed the other about whether or not any changes had occurred. The two pilots sat thus contemplating the French vineyards slowly rolling beneath them. When the Rafales or Mirages appeared alongside, they were jolted into reality.
That really shook them.
Of course, they quickly established comunications, etc, etc, and a safe landing was effected eventually in Heathrow. This incident ended well for the airplane and pax, but not so well for the crew. A management pilot flew back the return leg in the intercepted captain's stead. The intercepted captain was sanctioned. Management's anger -- the captain filed no report whatsoever regarding his interception by frrontline fighter aircraft; no ASR, no MORs, nothing. Maybe he hoped the entire affair was a bad dream that would just go away.
Except that it didn't. The bill from the French government for the Arik crew's lapse was as real as it gets. I sympathize greatly for the captain. He was ex-Bellview, on the B767, so the route and its demands was quite familiar to him. I think the F/O deserves a closer look than he has been given so far.