Bulgarian Air Force fighter scrambles to escort civilian Airbus that reported unlawful interference onboard
A Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet scrambled on June 30 to escort a civilian Airbus A320 aircraft that had used transponder code 7500 – a signal of unlawful interference onboard or of hijacking.
A statement by Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry said that the Air Force activated Air Policing mission staff on duty to protect the airspace “after receiving information from the Nato Joint Air Operations Centre in Torrejón and in coordination with them”.
An Airbus A320 aircraft reported transponder code 7500, indicating an unlawful interference on board.
At 1.57pm, the aircraft entered Bulgaria airspace at the border along the Danube River, where it was intercepted by a MiG-29 fighter on duty, which had taken off from the 3rd air base at 1.54pm.
“The fighter jet on duty successfully performed the Air Policing task by immediately detecting and intercepting the aircraft,” the Defence Ministry said.
“The Bulgarian pilot performed the reconnaissance, interrogation and escort tasks by accompanying the aircraft through Bulgarian airspace,” it said.
The Defence Ministry said that the actions were carried out in close coordination with the Turkish Air Force which also prepared and sent two F-16 fighter jets to take over the escort after the plane crossed the state border. At 2.14pm the aircraft left Bulgarian airspace, the ministry said, giving no further details.
In aviation, transponder code 7500 is the universal emergency squawk used by pilots to discreetly signal unlawful interference or a hijacking. When this four-digit code is entered, it immediately alerts Air Traffic Control and security agencies without the perpetrators on board necessarily realizing the distress signal has been sent.
According to Israeli website Ynetnews, the aircraft was operated by Polish LOT airlines but was chartered to a private company was en route from Poland to Israel. The transponder alert was triggered while in Turkish airspace. The aircraft flew on towards Cyprus. The pilot reportedly said that the alert was triggered in error, but the aircraft was not given permission to land at Cyprus or at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The aircraft turned back and landed at Bulgaria’s Bourgas airport, reports said.
(Photo: Defence Ministry)
