Fighter Escort?

[Jonny671]

So, a BA Jet was given a fighter escort this morning into Heathrow.. Whats the reason for these escorts?

[ramz]

The flight was actually an AA flight from DFW into Heathrow that had a lady passenger trying to break into the flight deck. She was brought under control by the crew but I guess the captain will probably have requested a priority approach which would have resulted in standard (slightly OTT) procedures kickin in.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?i...

ps: hello all!

[Jonny671]

ramz said:

The flight was actually an AA flight from DFW into Heathrow that had a lady passenger trying to break into the flight deck. She was brought under control by the crew but I guess the captain will probably have requested a priority approach which would have resulted in standard (slightly OTT) procedures kickin in.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?i...

ps: hello all!

Ah thankyou.

But why do they get sent up there?

p.s; Hello!

[eharding]

Some more detail, conjecture and confusion here:

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/407435-london-a...

[fadeaway]

Jonny671 said:

ramz said:

The flight was actually an AA flight from DFW into Heathrow that had a lady passenger trying to break into the flight deck. She was brought under control by the crew but I guess the captain will probably have requested a priority approach which would have resulted in standard (slightly OTT) procedures kickin in.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?i...

ps: hello all!

Ah thankyou.

But why do they get sent up there?

p.s; Hello!

To put it bluntly - to shot the airliner down if needed
Welcome to the post 9/11 world.



Edited to add that they can also provide visual intel about the aircraft, and communicate visually with the pilots if necessary (eg if radio communication was cut off/lost). But basically they're there to shot it down if it turns into a terrorist incident.

Edited by fadeaway on Tuesday 2nd March 18:15

[Simpo Two]

'RAF fighter shoots down airliner over London'.

That would be quite a headline, yes.



(Mind you if the hijacked plane was heading for Parliament, I might be tempted to claim weapons failure)

Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 2nd March 19:26

[FourWheelDrift]

Simpo Two said:

(Mind you if the hijacked plane was heading for Parliament, I might be tempted to claim weapons failure)

With maybe a Spitfire on V1 style nudge of the wing to help it hit it's target.

[anonymous-user]

In these situations when someone is trying to breach the flight deck it's very very important that the pilots let ATC know that the flight deck is still 'secure'.

If you are a passenger on a flight when this happens you need to join in and help the little hosties 'subdue' the person trying to get into the flight deck.

[mattdaniels]

Interception procedures are covered in the Air Law section of the PPL. Would love to see a Tornado intercept someone bimbling along at 70kts without falling out of the sky.

[essayer]

mattdaniels said:

Interception procedures are covered in the Air Law section of the PPL. Would love to see a Tornado intercept someone bimbling along at 70kts without falling out of the sky.

[Streetrod]

I have always wondered about this, who would ever authorise the shooting down of an airliner even it was heading for the centre of a city? Who has the final say?

[Jonny671]

Streetrod said:

I have always wondered about this, who would ever authorise the shooting down of an airliner even it was heading for the centre of a city? Who has the final say?

Probably like a nuke.. Gordo?

[TEKNOPUG]

Streetrod said:

I have always wondered about this, who would ever authorise the shooting down of an airliner even it was heading for the centre of a city? Who has the final say?

Ultimately? The pilot.

Even if you shoot the plane down, it's still going to crash somewhere! Over the UK, that means a high chance of somewhere populated.

[anonymous-user]

I thought the command had to come from someone in the MOD to authorise shooting it down, I didn't think it was left to the pilots to make the decision. I may be wrong though.

[Jonny671]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think he means, it doesn't matter who tells him to.. The Pilots finger is on the trigger.

[TEKNOPUG]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Who actually presses the button? MoD/Winky whoever can authorise whatever they like, still down to the pilot to actually carry out the command, or not

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Wednesday 3rd March 16:45

[Jonny671]

Would you get killed by the MI-5 people if you accidently hit the wrong target whilst firing off your missle?

[TEKNOPUG]

Jonny671 said:

Would you get killed by the MI-5 people if you accidently hit the wrong target whilst firing off your missle?

Depends who you hit!

[GingerWizard]

what happened to the lady and was it just the mental?

[Jonny671]

TEKNOPUG said:

Jonny671 said:

Would you get killed by the MI-5 people if you accidently hit the wrong target whilst firing off your missle?

Depends who you hit!

Hmm..