London Airspace Restricted/security Alert
 

Just heard from various sources that there's in incident ongoing involving and aircraft/security and London Airspace/gatwick? Flow aren't giving too much away?

Just got a txt from my girlfriend who is a pilot.

It's an AA aircraft (American 78 call sign) on finals now. Had a flight deck security breach. Flow into LHR has been reduced to nil......

the a/c has landed....

CFMU status is downgraded again. Still no details there

AAL78 767-300 from DFW. Glad all is well.

A women tried to break into the cockpit.

Seems a bit OTT. Why didn't the crew simply tell ATC what had happened so that traffic could have continued with minimum delay?

Did they know she was alone? Could they believe the report from the CC? What if they were being taken hostage? All kinds of scenarios sadly in this day and age but better safe than sorry...

Scenario is terrorists use a normal loking drunk woman to lure crew out etc etc et add your own next bit...

Sure it will turn out to be the resultt of booze/drugs who knows what.

My sources at LHR tell me that the lady passenger was reportedly emotionally disturbed and calmed by flight attendants. The captain, as a precaution, requested a priority approach to LHR as a result of the attempted flight deck entry and the lady's mental state but he advised that the situation was under control and no further assistance was required other than for police to meet the aircraft on arrival as is routine for any disruptive passenger.

Presumably at this point, due to the reports of attempted flight deck access, standard procedures kicked in although those onboard the aircraft were unaware of a fighter escort and none was visible on arrival at LHR as I saw the aircraft land.

That could hav explained the two small fast moving contrails I saw over London just after 11.00.

they have coined a new term for that:

"overreaction"

The two RAF Typhoons broke off over Oxfordshire and returned to their Coningsby base.

Aren't people in danger of forgetting what that armoured door is for?

Second, and just an opinion based on nothing more than is written above, wouldn't it be very inadvisable indeed to request or accept an approach to LHR (over or close to central London) if interference was really believed to be occurring, or for the authorities to allow it. To allow that, and then shut down airspace and call out the RAF seems a bizarre mixture of ineffectual thinking followed by panic. On second thoughts, standard behaviour for a UK "security" reaction.

And further to the above point, if interference was not believed to be the case then pretty inadvisable to mention attempts to breach the door over the radio which must only result in utter and widespread pandemonium? Requesting a return for disruptive pax would be sufficient in that case.

I get the feeling that nowadays many pilots are far too free with bleating all sorts of unnecessary detail of malfunctions/difficulties over the radio to people who can do nothing whatsoever about it except misunderstand it and/or overreact...less detail is often far, far better.

We should've turned it back.

If one is going to overreact why do it in half measures?

:E

"We should've turned it back"...... Who are "we"?

"..utter and widespread pandemonium".. In a lifetime in ATC I never saw anything approaching such a state. I guess things have changed for the very much worse?

1) There was only one Typhoon.
2) Those on board the AA flight would not have seen it as it remained behind.
3) The decision to launch QRA and restrict airspace is made by military and government personnel, not civil ATC.
4) If it was indeed a flight deck incursion by person or persons with hostile intent, why would a report to ATC that 'all is well' be correct?

Would agree that, having done that, to allow it to approach over London would seem a little contradictory...

I quite agree with 'Don't hang up' - it should have been turned back - it was only at 30W!

We do, after all, take aviation security seriously in the UK and if the US cannot control who gets on flights to the UK we should be firm.

Mind you - the whole thing sounds a lot like a John Wayne movie.

I fully support Dont Hang Up´s & BOAC´s statements. Looks like things are getting out of control over there.