A DUBLIN-BOUND flight with 127 passengers sparked a security alert at the weekend when it lost communication with air traffic controllers over central Europe, prompting Dutch authorities to send two fighter jets to intercept it as it approached their airspace.
Onur Air flight OHY 749 was en route from Antalya in Turkey to Dublin, and was flying at 32,000ft over Prague in the Czech Republic when air traffic control lost communication. Despite repeated attempts, controllers were unable to make contact.
The Airbus A321-200 continued through the Czech Republic and Germany, and was about to enter Dutch airspace when communication was restored. The crew told controllers the loss of communication was due to an error.
The airliner had no communication with controllers from Prague to the Dutch border. However, the flight was able to continue to Dublin for a safe landing about two hours after communication was first lost.
The Dutch ministry of defence confirmed two F-16 fighter jets had already been scrambled from Volkel air base to intercept the aircraft at the Dutch border when communication was restored. The jets were not required to intercept the flight after the communications problem was confirmed to have been resolved.
The return flight’s departure from Dublin to Antalya was delayed 90 minutes.
Last October in the US two pilots had their licences revoked following one of the most widely reported incidents of its kind. Their Northwest Airlines flight overflew its destination by over 120 miles after its crew became “distracted”.
Flight 188 was travelling from San Diego to Minneapolis when radio contact was lost with the jet. The flight continued, and overflew its destination before radio communication was re-established about 110 nautical miles east of Minneapolis. The jet turned around and landed safely in Minneapolis 45 minutes after radio contact was restored.
The National Transportation Safety Board which investigated the incident blamed the pilots.
“The flight crew failed to monitor the airplane’s radio and instruments and the progress of the flight after becoming distracted by conversations and activities unrelated to the operation of the flight,” it said.