Jet Airways plane loses ATC contact over Germany, causes scare

Setting off a major scare about a missing aircraft when it lost contact over German airspace, a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to London earlier this week had to be escorted by fighter planes part of the way before it landed at its destination, an airlines spokesperson said on Sunday.

"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. As a precaution, the German Air Force deployed its aircraft to ensure the safety of the flight and its guests. Communication was safely restored within a few minutes," a Jet Airways statement here said.

"The flight with 330 guests and 15 crew subsequently landed at London without incident," the statement added.

Jet Airways has duly reported the matter to the concerned authorities, including India's Directorate General of Civil ASviation (DGCA).

"As part of the standard process, the flight crew of 9W 118 has been de-rostered pending investigation," it added.

Media reports said that air traffic control radio contact with the Jet Airways flight was restored via the emergency frequency about 60 nautical miles north of Nuremberg in Germany.

One report said that a change of frequency digits is being suspected as the cause, whereby the crew tuned on 132.980MHz while the correct frequency was 132.890MHz.

--IANS

bc/vt