Civilian aircraft intercepted by Hungarian Gripens

Hungarian Gripen fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a civilian plane on Monday afternoon after air traffic control was told that the plane was carrying a bomb, the defence ministry told MTI.

The Serbian Airbus A-319 airliner travelling from Belgrade to Moscow was turned back at the Hungary-Slovakia border after Belgrade’s control tower told Hungarian air traffic control that the plane had a bomb on board.

NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre alerted the Gripen fighters of the Hungarian armed forces which quickly identified the Serbian aircraft and escorted it outside Hungary’s airspace towards Serbia.

The Gripens remained in flight near the border until the Airbus A-319 landed, the ministry said.

As we wrote today, opposition parties asked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday about how a drone transporting a bomb could spend 40 minutes in Hungarian airspace.

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