One of Germany’s biggest international airports says that flight operations have resumed after they were suspended following an aviation emergency.
A flight from Corfu to Germany landed safely as planned in Nuremberg after a hijack alert issued from the cockpit was put down to a “malfunction in the radio communication system”, according to the airline.
Corendon Airlines said it wanted to “emphasise that no emergency situation occurred and that at no point were the passengers, flight crew or aircraft in any danger”.
The incident forced a brief suspension of operations at Nuremberg Airport, where the plane was planned to land, the airport said.
Flight operations later returned to normal.
“From the cockpit, the code ‘7500’ (hijacking case) was transmitted, and furthermore, the pilot could no longer be reached by radio,” police said earlier on X.
“For safety reasons, various alarm scrambles were then triggered.”
The alert comes less than a month after the co-pilot of a jet flying from Dubai to Israel attacked the pilot with an emergency crash axe.
An aviation emergency halts flights at one of Germany’s biggest international airports. (Reuters: Michaela Rehle)
The airline said the emergency code had been transmitted on Tuesday while the plane, a Boeing 737-800, was in Croatian airspace “due to a brief malfunction in the radio communication system”.
“The situation was immediately monitored, investigations were promptly initiated and all necessary preparations were made.
The aircraft landed safely at Nuremberg Airport,” it said.
An airport spokesperson had no additional information.
Crash axe used in flydubai attack on pilot
German authorities have also been on heightened alert since a failed attack involving an explosives-laden drone at a German airport in August, which authorities blamed on Russia.
Russia denied any involvement.
A possible drone sighting had already disrupted air traffic at the airport overnight into Tuesday, the airport said in a separate statement.
Three pilots independently reported an object they had seen during take-off or landing, the German media outlet Bild reported.
An airport spokesperson said six flights were delayed and two inbound flights were diverted to other airports as a precaution.
Authorities across Europe have stepped up surveillance of the skies in recent weeks amid an increasing number of mostly mysterious drone incidents.
Germany says Russia responsible for Leipzig airport drone attack
Drones at German airports
In August, a drone disrupted flights overnight at Hanover Airport, located in northern Germany.
The incident came a week after an explosives-laden drone was discovered at Leipzig Airport.
Runways at the airport were closed for 90 minutes before normal operations resumed.
The Der Spiegel weekly, citing an internal police report, reported that “the possibility of a hybrid activity cannot be excluded”.
The drone went undetected by authorities and airport staff, flying freely for about two hours.
German authorities use the term “hybrid attack” to describe a wide range of incidents — including sabotage and espionage as well as propaganda operations — that have increased since the start of the war in Ukraine and are mostly blamed on Russia.
According to the magazine, the police report concludes that it is “currently impossible” to link the Hanover incident to the explosive drone found at Leipzig Airport.
Following the Leipzig incident, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned of “a new dimension of threat” and mentioned a potential “hybrid attack scenario” without blaming anyone or any state in particular.
Germany has become Ukraine’s leading military backer in Europe following the 2022 Russian invasion.
ABC/wires