On 30th April an EL AL Boeing 787-9 was escorted by fighter jets over Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel, due to a suspected bomb being planted onboard.
The 2.5 year old aircraft, with registration 4X-EDH and performing flight LY2 from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, USA to Tel Aviv Israel, was en-route over northern Spain when the crew advised air traffic control that they suspected a bomb had been planted on the aircraft.
Once it was accepted as a serious security concern, NATO decided to dispatch fighter aircraft; these fighters then intercepted and escorted the Boeing as it passed over various Mediterranean countries. At the Spanish-Italian airspace boundary, Italian fighter aircraft took over escort duty until the Boeing entered Greek airspace; at this point, according to Greek Reporter, two pairs of Greek General Dynamics F-16 ‘Fighting Falcon’ jets, based in Araxos and Kasteli, approached the aircraft while it was over Greek airspace. Israeli fighter aircraft awaited the aircraft in Cyprus airspace, proceeding to escort the aircraft until it finally landed in Tel Aviv.
Four hours after the first alert the 787 landed safely at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport. According to FlightRadar24 the aircraft is still on the ground 24 hours after the incident
The Israeli flagship carrier is the only commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defence systems, to protect them against surface-to-air missiles and is considered one of the world’s most secure airlines; this is in part thanks to its stringent security procedures, both on the ground and onboard their aircraft.
Cover Photo: Boeing
This article makes little sense. They suspected a bomb and continued flying for four hours over a number of European countries. I’d think they would have elected to immediately land or be told to do so if this was truly the issue. If the article is correct I’d disagree that this is the “world’s most secured airline.” I only flew El Al once but if I were on this flight I’d be pretty ticked that we continued to fly for four hours.
I’m sure the passengers were comforted knowing their deaths would be observed by fighter pilots.
Maybe land and de-board?
Strange story. I would think a belief that a bomb is aboard would be a mayday call and immediate landing at the nearest airport. I’m not seeing how a fighter escort for several thousand miles could be called for in such a situation and suspect that there’s more to the story.
Was there a bomb????