Watch: Plane from Dubai to London tailed by fighter jets

Top Stories

Watch: Plane from Dubai to London tailed by fighter jets

The Boeing aircraft was escorted by two Hungarian Air Force Gripen jets to identify the aircraft and confirm that it was progressing safely.

By Curated by Kymberlee Fernandes

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sun 1 May 2016, 5:23 PM

Last updated: Mon 2 May 2016, 7:02 PM

A British Airways flight was reportedly intercepted by fighter jets while flying over Hungary after it temporarily lost communications with air traffic controllers.
The flight BA108 was carrying passengers from Dubai to London. Sabrina Fawaz who was travelling with her husband said they spotted the jet by chance when looking out of the window.
A frequent flyer, Mrs Fawaz said she enjoys the views of the mountains when flying over Iran. She was reported as saying that she thought the plane was ready to shoot them down.

According to The Telegraph, the Boeing aircraft was escorted by two Hungarian Air Force Gripen jets to identify the aircraft and confirm that it was progressing safely.
Air safety protocol demands that pilots notify air traffic controllers when passing from one country's airspace to another. In this case, the BA flight has lost contact for a little while.
Mrs Fawaz told Daily Mail:

I was just looking out and my husband said 'look at that plane'. It's difficult to describe the feeling. You immediately imagine something's wrong in the plane and you're not aware of it or something's wrong on the ground.
My mouth went dry and I went hot and cold. It was terrifying.
I thought it was ready to shoot us down. Usually, you hear that when two fighter jets are scrambled, one is flying to the front of the plane to check that it's okay and the second one is flying behind ready to shoot it down.
A member of the cabin crew assured the Fawazs that such a situation could occur when contact is lost, but there wasn't a need to worry. However, no announcements had been made on the flight.
Independent reports that the Gripens took off at 12:55pm before the passenger flight made contact air traffic controllers on the ground. The jets returned to base at 1:21pm.
The Boeing 777 landed safely at London Heathrow Airport at 2:19pm. 


More news from