Cathay Pacific Flight Briefly Lost Contact Over Romania, NATO Scrambles Jets

(CNA, Hong Kong, July 8) According to reports, a Cathay Pacific passenger jet flying from Hong Kong to London briefly lost contact over Romania in Eastern Europe, prompting Hungary to dispatch fighter jets for identification. The aircraft subsequently re-established contact with the control tower, and the fighter jets returned to base.

According to a report by TVB today, the Hungarian Minister of Defense posted on social media that last Saturday afternoon, around 2 p.m., an Airbus A350 passenger jet en route from Hong Kong to London lost contact with civil aviation control authorities while flying over Romania, triggering a NATO rapid response alert.

Hungary, which borders Romania, immediately dispatched fighter jets. The jets performed a "visual warning" at the Hungarian border. The passenger jet then contacted the control tower, and the fighter jets returned to their air force base.

The report stated that a review of the flight records for that day identified the aircraft as Cathay Pacific flight CX257, which can carry up to 334 passengers. It departed from Hong Kong on Saturday morning and arrived in London on time.

The report quoted a civil aviation pilot as saying that aircraft must communicate with local air traffic controllers in different regions to ensure flight safety, but occasional loss of contact with the ground can occur.

The report also quoted Cheung King-lung, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Professional Pilots, as saying that in Europe, once an aircraft loses contact, air traffic controllers will first attempt to contact nearby aircraft to relay calls. They will communicate with the passenger jet via data messages on an emergency channel. If there is still no response, fighter jets will be dispatched according to procedure to observe.

He said the purpose of dispatching fighter jets is not to intercept or attack, but to identify the aircraft and, secondarily, to determine if the flight crew can observe the air traffic controllers' calls.

It is understood that if pilot negligence is confirmed, the military can hold the airline responsible and claim the costs of the sortie.

Cathay Pacific has not yet responded to the related reports. (Editor: Lu Jia-rong) 1150708

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