Dutch fighter jets have intercepted a Turkish passenger plane which did not respond to radio messages. Two F16s scrambled from Volkel airfield to intercept the Airbus 321 owned by Onur Air near the German border.
The plane was on its way from Turkey to Dublin, and after Prague had failed to maintain radio contact with air traffic controllers.
Radio contact was restored before the F16s made contact with the passenger plane. The pilot said the radio silence had been due to a mistake.
It was the first time this year fighter jets took off to intercept a passenger plane. Last year there were six such incidents.
In 2005, the Turkish budget airline was barred from landing in the Netherlands and other European countries because of safety concerns.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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