False hijacking alert grounds Nuremberg airport
Two German Eurofighters escorted a Corendon flight after the cockpit transmitted a hijacking code.
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Nuremberg airport was temporarily closed on Tuesday after a Corendon aircraft transmitted a hijacking code while en route. Two Eurofighters escorted the aircraft to the airport, where all 178 passengers and the crew disembarked safely.
The flight was Corendon flight XR456 from Corfu to Nuremberg, operated with a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800. The cockpit transmitted transponder code 7500, the international code for a hijacking or other unlawful interference. There was then temporarily no radio contact with the aircraft.
The German authorities took the signal seriously and sent fighter aircraft towards the plane. Air traffic at the airport was halted until the aircraft had landed and the police had carried out checks. No danger was found during those checks, and air traffic resumed.
Corendon told the AP news agency that a brief fault in the radio communication system caused the incorrect alert. The airline said there had been no emergency and that the passengers, crew and aircraft were never in any danger.
German police later reported that an input error in the cockpit had probably played a role. According to that account, the crew intended to report a problem with the radio but accidentally entered the code for a hijacking. The precise technical sequence is still being investigated; the explanations for the cause have therefore not yet been fully reconciled.
The incident shows why a hijacking code triggers a major security response immediately, even when there is doubt. Air traffic control and the authorities cannot assume that a signal is a mistake as long as there is no contact with the crew and the aircraft is still airborne.
For travellers, the event mainly affected airport operations. The flight itself ended at its scheduled destination, and there are no indications that there was a real hijacking. The temporary closure did cause disruption around Nuremberg, an airport also used by Dutch travellers.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
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The factual core was confirmed by NOS and AP. The cause is worded cautiously because Corendon and the German police place different emphasis on it.
- confirmed A Corendon flight transmitted code 7500 and temporarily lost radio contact. — Confirmed by NOS and AP. source
- confirmed Two Eurofighters escorted the aircraft to Nuremberg. — Confirmed by NOS and AP. source
- confirmed The aircraft landed safely and no danger was found. — Confirmed by Corendon and the German authorities via AP and NOS. source
- uncertain A radio fault and possibly an input error caused the alert. — Corendon cites a radio fault; German police cite a suspected input error. The text presents both explanations alongside each other. source
Editor's note
The safe landing, the escorting Eurofighters and the temporary closure were confirmed by NOS and AP. The precise cause remains for now a combination of a radio fault and a suspected input error, according to different accounts.Sources
- Kapingsmelding vanuit cockpit blijkt vals alarm — NOS
- Germany briefly shuts Nuremberg airport after radio problem — Associated Press
- Invoerfout in cockpit vermoedelijke oorzaak alarm — airliners.de
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „corendon neurenberg”
- NU.nl — „corendon neurenberg”
- De Telegraaf — „corendon neurenberg”