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| Britain |
| Cargo plane intercepted above North West Kent and escorted by RAF to Stansted Airport |
| 2014-10-30 |
| A LATVIAN cargo plane has been intercepted by RAF typhoon fighters over South London, causing a "sonic boom" heard across the South East. The RAF tweeted: "Typhoons launched to intercept a civil aircraft. It was safely escorted to Stansted. Our aircraft cleared supersonic during the scramble. "Apologies if we startled you during the successful intercept this afternoon - we only go supersonic over land when absolutely necessary." The jets had to be scrambled from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and were given special permission to go supersonic because the plane could not be contacted and was on its way to London, raising security fears. It is understood the Russian-built plane did not contain anything that posed a security threat and the two jets have returned to Lincolnshire. An RAF spokesman said: “I can confirm there was an aircraft in south London which lost contact with air traffic control. “We launched some Typhoons from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and escorted the aircraft to safety. “Our aircraft did indeed go supersonic which would explain the boom.” Essex Police said: "Military jets were deployed on a precautionary basis when a Lithuian registered cargo plane was diverted to Stansted. This was due to a loss of communication with the aircraft. "The aircraft landed safely at Stansted airport at around 5.20pm. All three people who were on board have been spoken to by police, it was established that everything was in order and reason for the short loss of communication was due to a change in airspace jurisdiction. "Essex Police is not investigating the incident and the aircraft will be able to continue its journey to Birmingham when it is ready." A spokesman from Stansted Airport confirmed a plane landed at 5.10pm but could not confirm it was escorted by the RAF although he said he 'understood' that was the case. Social media users as far spread as Dartford, Wadhurst and Hertfordshire reported hearing the explosion around 4.44pm. |
| Posted by:Bright Pebbles |
| #2 Lucky they didn't shoot first and ask questions later. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2014-10-30 14:40 |
| #1 think this might be one of the russian jets NATO intercepted today: no transponder, no flight plans, no contact with civilian air traffic control. very dangerous. See other post: NATO intercepted 19 Russian jets trespassing over EU airspace today |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-10-30 07:31 |