Hungary scrambled fighter jets to intercept Israeli passenger plane that failed to make contact – reports; Arkia: incident under review

Hungarian fighter jets were scrambled Thursday to intercept an Israeli passenger jet that failed to contact local air traffic control, according to Hebrew media reports.

The Arkia flight, which flew from Tel Aviv to Prague, triggered NATO’s highest level of alert after crossing into Hungarian airspace, reports say.

Two Gripen fighter jets were scrambled to make contact with the Israeli Airbus A321, the reports say.

After contact was made, the flight continued to its destination without incident.

Commenting on the reports, Arkia says “the incident is under internal investigation.”

“The flight crew acted in accordance with the approved flight plan and the pre-determined flight routes,” the low-cost Israeli airline added, saying: “We emphasize that at no point during the flight was there any danger to the plane, passengers, or crew.”