Bre901
12th Aug 2004, 16:58
From the Beeb's website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3556012.stm)
Spanish jet triggered major alert
A Spanish airline has confirmed that one of its passenger planes caused an major alert, leading to the launch of military aircraft, on 1 May.
Jets from several European countries were scrambled to intercept the Air Europa airliner after its crew failed to respond to air-traffic controllers.
The aircraft, with 186 people on board, was flying from Norway to Mallorca.
It was the same day that the leaders from 28 countries were in Dublin to mark the European Union expansion.
An Air Europa official confirmed reports in the Spanish El Pais newspaper that two military jets each from Germany, the Netherlands and France intercepted and flew alongside the plane during different stages of its flight.
There were concerns that the plane might have been hijacked in an attempt to crash it over Brussels or Paris on a hugely symbolic day for the continent.
Inquiries
Calls from Danish, German and Dutch traffic controllers remained unanswered for about 15 minutes until two French jets managed to contact the pilots.
The BBC's Oana Lungescu said Dutch prosecutors, who have opened an inquiry, are looking into possible serious violations of aviation legislation and international air traffic regulations.
She said an Air Europa spokeswoman had confirmed that the airline had also opened its own inquiry.
The spokeswoman said the flight was completed according to the schedule and the pilots were constantly listening to the required radio frequency, but had heard no specific request addressed to them.
Jean-Jacques Sauvage, a senior official with Eurocontrol - the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation - told the BBC this was unusual.
"The only thing I can say is that I'm very astonished," he said. "Normally this kind of message is very clear, there is a message which is international, which is the same message that is delivered to all pilots."
But the Air Europa spokeswoman said told the BBC that such an incident was not a rare occurrence.
In the first 10 days of May, she said, 20 similar alerts were registered with Eurocontrol.
Eurocontrol told the BBC it could not comment further before finding out more details of what had happened.
Spanish jet triggered major alert
A Spanish airline has confirmed that one of its passenger planes caused an major alert, leading to the launch of military aircraft, on 1 May.
Jets from several European countries were scrambled to intercept the Air Europa airliner after its crew failed to respond to air-traffic controllers.
The aircraft, with 186 people on board, was flying from Norway to Mallorca.
It was the same day that the leaders from 28 countries were in Dublin to mark the European Union expansion.
An Air Europa official confirmed reports in the Spanish El Pais newspaper that two military jets each from Germany, the Netherlands and France intercepted and flew alongside the plane during different stages of its flight.
There were concerns that the plane might have been hijacked in an attempt to crash it over Brussels or Paris on a hugely symbolic day for the continent.
Inquiries
Calls from Danish, German and Dutch traffic controllers remained unanswered for about 15 minutes until two French jets managed to contact the pilots.
The BBC's Oana Lungescu said Dutch prosecutors, who have opened an inquiry, are looking into possible serious violations of aviation legislation and international air traffic regulations.
She said an Air Europa spokeswoman had confirmed that the airline had also opened its own inquiry.
The spokeswoman said the flight was completed according to the schedule and the pilots were constantly listening to the required radio frequency, but had heard no specific request addressed to them.
Jean-Jacques Sauvage, a senior official with Eurocontrol - the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation - told the BBC this was unusual.
"The only thing I can say is that I'm very astonished," he said. "Normally this kind of message is very clear, there is a message which is international, which is the same message that is delivered to all pilots."
But the Air Europa spokeswoman said told the BBC that such an incident was not a rare occurrence.
In the first 10 days of May, she said, 20 similar alerts were registered with Eurocontrol.
Eurocontrol told the BBC it could not comment further before finding out more details of what had happened.