Jet Airways Plane escorted by German Air Force after losing contact with Air Traffic Control
A jet Airways Passenger plane was reportedly escorted by German Air Force after it lost its contact with Air Traffic Control during the flight from Mumbai to London.
The aircraft was carrying more than 300 people on board while the incident happened.
The incident, which seems to be a serious security scare, happened in German airspace, prompting the Air Force to scramble the fighter jets to escort the Boeing 777 aircraft. Communication was restored eventually and the flight landed at London’s Heathrow airport without incident.
A footage of the incident was posted by website Aviation Herald, which showed the Jet Airways Plane being escorted by two fighter Jets.
The reports prompted Jet airways to issue a statement on the incident.
Jet airways stated, “Contact between Jet Airways flight 9W 118, from Mumbai to London Heathrow, of February 16, 2017, and the local ATC, was briefly lost while flying over German airspace. Communication was safely restored within a few minutes. As a precaution, the German Air Force deployed its aircraft to ensure the safety of the flight and its guests. The flight with 330 guests and 15 crew subsequently landed at London without incident”.
It added, “Jet Airways has duly reported the matter to the concerned authorities including the DGCA. As part of the standard process, the flight crew of 9W 118 has been de-rostered pending investigation”.