An El Al flight en route from Phuket to Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel encountered a spine-chilling moment on Saturday night as unidentified hostile elements attempted to seize control of its communication network.

 

This nerve-racking incident, the second of its kind within a week, sent shockwaves through the aviation world. Despite the menacing takeover attempt, the aircraft managed to reach its destination unscathed, ensuring the safety of all passengers and crew on board.

 

The high-stakes encounter unfolded in airspace notorious for the presence of Iran-backed Houthis, although sources from Somalia have pointed fingers at a group hailing from the de-facto state of Somaliland, recently aligned with Ethiopia, as the likely perpetrators behind this audacious assault.

Upon receiving aberrant instructions to veer off their planned route, the vigilant flight crew swiftly identified the looming threat. Refusing to comply with the suspicious directives, they swiftly transitioned to alternative communication channels, cross-verifying their intended route with other air traffic control services to steer clear of potential danger or diversion.

El Al, Israel’s flagship carrier, acknowledged the gravity of the situation, highlighting the widespread disruptions in communication plaguing Somalia throughout the week, impacting not just El Al flights but others as well. Pilots worldwide have been cautioned by official authorities to dismiss any dubious instructions and switch to backup communication frequencies when necessary, reported Travel Wires.

Reassuring the public, El Al underscored the exemplary professionalism exhibited by its pilots in handling the crisis. The airline stressed that such disturbances while concerning, were not exclusively targeted at El Al and did not escalate into a full-blown security breach. The adept response of the flight crew ensured that the flight remained steadfast on its trajectory, underscoring the airline’s preparedness and resilience in the face of potential threats.

 

In related news, an unruly British man was arrested after his flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow landed following a cowardly attack on a Thai Airways member of staff.

 

by Top Top

Photo courtesy of Executive Traveller

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-02-22

 

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58 minutes ago, webfact said:

Upon receiving aberrant instructions to veer off their planned route

Sounds like a crank call....

I would imagine the (presumably)Israeli pilot's response to a dubious instruction to deviate his flightpath over Yemen or Syria would have been something like "far cough, Noddy".

 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Upon receiving aberrant instructions to veer off their planned route, the vigilant flight crew swiftly identified the looming threat. Refusing to comply with the suspicious directives, they swiftly transitioned to alternative communication channels, cross-verifying their intended route with other air traffic control services to steer clear of potential danger or diversion.

A new disturbing trend as to the levels that some people will go to force their view across.

11 hours ago, webfact said:

In related news, an unruly British man was arrested after his flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow landed following a cowardly attack on a Thai Airways member of staff.

Racking my brains to understand why this is related?

Sounds like they can hack in like they were Air Traffic Control. 

6 minutes ago, retarius said:

Sounds like they can hack in like they were Air Traffic Control. 

There is no need to 'hack' in. All it takes is some person or country that is aware of the radio frequencies used in any area world wide, (and they are not secret), a radio transmitter with enough power and a a receiver and you can listen and talk to anybody in the world whose radio is open and tuned to the frequency you want to listen to.

 

All you need to do is to listen to the calls for a few days and you can work out who is on the other end. Indeed if you use (I think Flightradar24) with your computer you can track any civil flight worldwide 24/7.

 

Military flights are a bit harder to track, but given the right equipment there is no reason why they cannot be tracked also.