Two Royal Air Force jets reportedly threatened to shoot down a Latvian cargo plane, rushing at supersonic speeds to intercept it, after the plane failed to respond to air traffic control over Kent in Southern England and sent authorities into panic mode.<\/p>\n
The excitement surrounding the intercept \u2013 apparently based on post-9\/11 terrorist attack fears \u2013 came amid a heightened terror alert in the UK at the time of the allied military campaign against the Islamic State.<\/p>\n
Media reports mirrored the panic frenzy triggered by the incident, but in a peculiar way: first saying that the cargo plane was \u201cRussian\u201d and then switching to a \u201cRussian-made\u201d reference, RT reported.<\/p>\n
Both takes were wrong: the Antonov design bureau, the producer of An-26 planes, is a Ukrainian company founded in Soviet times, and the plane in question belonged to a Latvian-registered company, ironically called RAF-Avia.<\/p>\n
However, the British media seemingly capitalized on the latest NATO reports of \u201cunusual\u201d increased activity of Russian military aircrafts over the Atlantic and the Black Sea.<\/p>\n
NATO stated that it has intercepted four groups of Russian planes since Tuesday. \u201cThese sizeable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace,\u201d the alliance said.<\/p>\n
Most media reports based on the NATO statement failed to mention that the Russian planes did not cross any borders and remained within international airspace in every mentioned case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am instructed by Her Majesty\u2019s Government of the United Kingdom to warn you that, if you do not respond immediately to my orders, you will be shot down,\u201d radioed one of the jets, according to an audio recording circulating in UK media.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred at about 5pm local time after the Latvian Antonov An-26 aircraft failed to make contact with air traffic controllers.<\/p>\n
British Typhoons were tasked with intercepting the cargo plane. \u201cTo fulfill their quick reaction role, they were cleared to travel at supersonic speed,\u201d an RAF spokesperson said, adding that the speed explains the loud noise people heard in the air.<\/p>\n
Many locals took to Twitter, describing how their houses shook after the loud bangs.<\/p>\n
Communications with the civilian pilots were restored only after the jets intercepted the plane.<\/p>\n
The Latvian plane was then escorted to London\u2019s Stansted Airport at around 5:20 pm \u201cAll three people who were on board have been spoken to by police,\u201d AP quoted Essex Police spokeswoman Emma Thomas as saying. \u201cIt was established that everything was in order and the reason for the short loss of communication was due to a change in airspace.<\/p>\n
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