WarSclerotic

According to the Luftwaffe, the radio contact with the aircraft, which was on its way to London, had already broken off via Hungary. The machine had been accompanied by Czech interceptors and taken by two Eurofighters of the Luftwaffe when flying into German airspace and then handed over to Belgian combat aircraft at Cologne, a spokesman said. In such cases, visual contact checks that there is no unusual situation on board.

Why the radio contact was interrupted, the German air traffic control and the Luftwaffe could not say. It could have a crew fault or a technical fault. This always happens again. The airline was initially unable to reach an opinion.
Nuclear power plants cleared quickly

It was a so-called Renegade pre-alarm, explained the ministry in Kiel. Renegade cases are those in which an aircraft of terrorist or other motives might be used as a weapon. The alarm was issued by the National Location and Management Center for Safety in the Airspace in the municipality of Uedem (North Rhine-Westphalia). It was established in 2003 to protect the airspace from such threats. The background is the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the USA.

A standardized procedure begins with such an alarm. However, the operators of the plants would have a margin of discretion as to how specifically they assessed the danger. If, for example, an airplane turns off in the direction of London to the north, then it does not necessarily have to react in the south, it was said from operators.

The nuclear power plants were cleared quickly, they said. In Brokdorf the police released a blockade demonstration on the same day before the two entrances. After the alarm was over the protest was continued.