Israeli fighters scrambled against incoming airliner
 

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Jerusalem Newswire
Israeli fighters scrambled against incoming airliner

By Ryan Jones
Mar 04, 2007

Four Israeli fighter jets were scrambled against an incoming airliner two weeks ago, Israel's Ma'ariv daily newspaper reported on Sunday.

Defense officials became concerned when an Israir passenger plan inbound from the Far East lost communication with the flight tower at Ben Gurion International Airport.

A squadron of fighter jets was scrambled to intercept the airliner amid fears it had been hijacked by terrorists intending to crash it into downtown Tel Aviv.

Moments before needing to make a very fateful decision, officials discovered that a technical problem had prevented the pilots from contacting the flight tower as expected.

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