New Delhi: In a serious security scare, a Jet Airways aircraft with 345 persons on board had a temporary communications breakdown for “a few minutes” with German Air Traffic Control (ATC) on February 16 over Germany while flying from Mumbai to London, and was escorted by German Air Force fighter jets that were scrambled after the authorities there apparently panicked. The two pilots have now been de-rostered pending an inquiry, and a probe has been ordered.

Reports said the incident took place while the aircraft was flying over the German city of Cologne. The flight later landed in London safely. TV channels on Sunday evening aired dramatic footage that appeared to be from social media platforms that showed German Air Force fighters intercepting and escorting the Jet Airways aircraft.


Pilots failed to respond to ATC
It may be recalled this is the second such incident with a Jet Airways flight over Germany in the past three years.

On March 13, 2014, a Jet Airways flight from London to Mumbai sparked panic after the aircraft remained out of contact for almost 30 minutes while flying over German airspace. Newswire reports back in 2014 said a probe by the DGCA found the pilots overlooked increasing the speaker volume after removing the headsets, resulting in a break in communications for almost 30 minutes. The pilots in their official deposition had then reportedly said they had removed their headsets.

In that incident, the German air traffic control DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH had reportedly shot off a complaint to the DGCA. The pilots had reportedly not responded to German ATC callouts while the plane was over German airspace for almost 30 minutes. As per the practice, German ATC then immediately informed the airline, which sent an SMS to the cockpit via ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporti-ng System) fitted in the aircraft.

The pilots responded to the SMS and apologised to the German ATC for not having responded earlier.