India Airforce Intercepts Air France Plane

[NUMBNUTTS]

Airbus is certainly grabbing its share of the aviation bad news these days - more PE?!

India scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to intercept an Air France passenger plane after it failed to identify itself correctly, the Indian air force says.

The Bangkok-bound flight from Paris had entered Indian airspace from Pakistan.

The pilot had used the wrong Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) code, which allows ground radars to differentiate between friendly and enemy aircraft.

The MiG was told to "break off and return to base" when the correct code was given, an air force official said.

Flight Lt Priya Joshi also told the AFP news agency that a report had been filed with India's civil aviation authorities over the incident.

The Air France Airbus-343 had entered India above Amritsar, in the north-west of the country, early on Thursday morning.

The Indian air force has stepped up security along the border with Pakistan in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 170 people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8225639.stm

[Moonrakers]

Whoops. That was a close one.

[mahtin]

Oh, goodness gracious me, what role is Peter Sellers playing?

[Moonrakers]

Dunno. But Cato was his co-pilot

[Carib]

This has got absolutely nothing to do with airbus, by the way. So I don't know why the OP drags that in to the theatre..

[bdenner]

Maybe wrong but I thought IFF applied strictly to military aircraft. The way I understand the system civil aircraft use a transponder that automatically responds to radar contact by replying a code given by the ATC tracking that aircraft at the time. That code is usually radioed to the aircraft pilots by ATC as it enters their airspace and keyed into the transponder then. Maybe the pilots entered the wrong code or failed to do it at all.

Almost the same thing but without the tight security requirement.

Edited August 27, 2009 by bdenner

[Moonrakers]

Either way, it must have been a right kerfuffle.

[Jangot]

Yes, it is misleading to say this is an Airbus problem.

Correct identity coding is the responsibility of the operator - AIr France.

Sloppy (sensationalist) reporting by BBC. bdenner is correct, IFF is purely a military thing.

Civilian airliners transmit "Mode S" code to identify the aircraft and its location/altitude.

This is a radio transmission, and has nothing to do with radar.

It is firmly installed into the aircraft transponder system and is not under the control of the pilot.

Perhaps only the circuit breaker (fuse) had popped, and the pilot was able to reset it.

J.

[bdenner]

Here is the incident as reported by the AVHerald web site -- LINK

Incident: Air France A343 near Amritsar on Aug 27th 2009, loss comm

By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Aug 27th 2009 14:00Z, last updated Thursday, Aug 27th 2009 14:06Z

An Air France Airbus A340-300, registration F-GLZN performing flight AF-164 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Bangkok (Thailand), entered Indian Airspace near Amritsar on an official airway entry point at FL370, however without establishing contact to Air Traffic Control and sending a wrong transponder code so that the airplane showed "unidentified" on both civilian and military radar screens. The Indian Air Force dispatched fighter planes (MiG 29s) to intercept and identify the aircraft, however aborted the intercept maneouver, when the aircraft began to send the correct transponder code. The airplane continued to Bangkok, where the airplane landed safely on schedule.

Indian Aviation Authorities are investigating.

A much more trusted site when it comes to aviation matters.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

it could have been a catastrophic outcome.

[Datsun240Z]

It's a standard procedure in every country.

[bkkjames]

Look on the bright side, at least they didn't accidentally fly into Russian airspace.

[NUMBNUTTS]

"Dont believe ya lying eyes maam - these photographs of ya hubby in the sack with the char are another dirty communist plot to block him from high orifice!!??"

Whats so terribly sloppy about the BBC this time? As opposed to any other sloppy time?! Just cant handle the truth, pal?!

Or is it simply that motorized keyboard that jess simply got away from ya, again?!

Come on - neither the BBC nor I invented, not misconstrued anything material here - we were both simply messengers - some more truthful than others, maybe.

For you to make silly anecdotal commentary about given fact - non BBC - is symptomatic of your inability to add anything creative/informative to this here forum.

The way I read it is that it has everything to do with Airbus, their pilots and Thailand - thankfully it landed safely in BKK, of which ya mention squat.

You clearly dont have a clue about aircraft protocol, even the basic rudiments of a flight deck. Or maybe ya simply used to work for them.

There is a sneaky conundrum however - all of them have Paris in there some place?!

The Air France Airbus-343 had entered India above Amritsar, in the north-west of the country, early on Thursday morning.

This has got absolutely nothing to do with airbus, by the way. So I don't know why the OP drags that in to the theatre..

"Geez Mable - that tatoo on his butt sure looks awfully like the one ah have seen on his a......" "OMG"

[Ricardo]

Here is the incident as reported by the AVHerald web site -- LINK

Incident: Air France A343 near Amritsar on Aug 27th 2009, loss comm

By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Aug 27th 2009 14:00Z, last updated Thursday, Aug 27th 2009 14:06Z

An Air France Airbus A340-300, registration F-GLZN performing flight AF-164 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Bangkok (Thailand), entered Indian Airspace near Amritsar on an official airway entry point at FL370, however without establishing contact to Air Traffic Control and sending a wrong transponder code so that the airplane showed "unidentified" on both civilian and military radar screens. The Indian Air Force dispatched fighter planes (MiG 29s) to intercept and identify the aircraft, however aborted the intercept maneouver, when the aircraft began to send the correct transponder code. The airplane continued to Bangkok, where the airplane landed safely on schedule.

Indian Aviation Authorities are investigating.

A much more trusted site when it comes to aviation matters.

Perhaps the pilots were enjoying a lengthy lunch-break, or other airborne activities, and became distracted ? Ooh La La !

[NUMBNUTTS]

Clearly they were not on top of their game - it raises several issues - surely the craft is tracked globally, so why the surprise and have they dumbed down the AB Pilot training to such a degree that they dont even follow protocols? Has nobody in Paris heard of the Pakistan/India/Mumbai terrorism?!

Maybe George can figure how to beam TV into their cockpits - privately.

"The Paris-Bangkok-Singapore commercial passenger aircraft was not aware that it had mistakenly entered the Indian air space without following the laid-down procedures. Our radars picked up that a suspect aircraft had entered over Amritsar. The IAF scrambled its fighters which forced the aircraft to move out from the Indian airspace after it was confirmed that it violated procedures due to mistake," the Air Marshal added.

[thaihome]

Why are people so upset that the type of plane was stated? Doing that sort of makes it a requirement to use the word “Airbus” doesn’t it? How do they get to idea the OP was saying it was an Airbus problem?

If it had been a Boeing 747, would they be so defensive?

TH

[Carib]

Well folks Jack Daniels ( banned) is back, sitting on his nuts too long, hence his nick. Anything flying and not american is rotten.

Since when does Airbus have pilots who fly Air France planes Jack? ??

Edited August 28, 2009 by Carib

[fred2007]

Well folks Jack Daniels ( banned) is back, sitting on his nuts too long, hence his nick. Anything flying and not american is rotten.

Since when does Airbus have pilots who fly Air France planes Jack? ??

And can we have that translated into english as well so an non english speaker can understand

[Carib]

Well folks Jack Daniels ( banned) is back, sitting on his nuts too long, hence his nick. Anything flying and not american is rotten.

Since when does Airbus have pilots who fly Air France planes Jack? ??

And can we have that translated into english as well so an non english speaker can understand

I was talking about member NUMBNUTTS..

[catmac]

Of course, you're quite right - this has absolutely nothing to do with Airbus, but a lot to do with Air France. They seem to be going through a bad patch at the moment, one plane just disappearing and now this technical cock-up.

To be honest, I wouldn't like to be flying anywhere with them in the near future.

[Jangot]

Why are people so upset that the type of plane was stated? Doing that sort of makes it a requirement to use the word “Airbus” doesn’t it? How do they get to idea the OP was saying it was an Airbus problem?

If it had been a Boeing 747, would they be so defensive?

TH

Well, I don't see anyone upset about the type of plane being stated - just making the comment that the type of plane was not relevant - and that in response to the OP opening line...

"Airbus is certainly grabbing its share of the aviation bad news these days - more PE?!" That sort of suggests that the OP was saying it was an Airbus problem, rather than an operator problem.

J.

[NUMBNUTTS]

Oh the hypocrisy of it all - the vitriol, the unheeded, useless cry for revenge and damnation from the unwashed.

Were we only living circa 1930, when a raggedy little limp wristed lamebrain narrow minded, uneducated smelly wimpy testosterone deprived, sashaying swishy lad of dubious parenthood, even less documented lineage, a product no doubt of a pathetic, lustless, mechanical evening tryst beneath some hops riddled table amongst the urine & feces and sawdust of one of Europe's better know brothels, methinks perhaps even such venue of higher learning to some, where any original thought other than murder or oppression or treason was the passport to its portals, where truth and triumph of good over evil was forced into submission, where human spirits were culled and vanquished, where the greatest lies on Earth where ever hatched and spread like fire in a dry woodland, in the mind of an evil a persona as never before seen on this Earth, nor will ever be hatched again, for so long as man is cognicent of the folly of his own ways and unconcerned with the lies of others, their protestations or interpretations of what should, or should not be heard by one and all - the Truth shall set ye free.

Which part of the truth do ya not like or understand this time?!

Ya only like Boeing mishaps?!

[cdnvic]

Don't waste your time posting in all caps, because it will just wind up in the trash.

....and no, I don't know what Numbnutts is on about, so don't bother asking me.

[cgjtt]

Standard transponders will show ident code and fligt number. This is given at the same time as when the crew receives their departure (ie enroute clearance) . The Xponder box has also a place where you write the flight number so ATC can see the code AND the flight number on their radar screen.

If you don't show the correct code, you will be questioned by ATC.

If you don't have the overflight permits , you will also be requested by ATC to provide them.

If you are not listening to the assigned frequency and 121.5 and don't have the right code in the box , GUESS WHAT !!! They will come up and look to see who you are.

I don't understand where the airbus thing comes in to this discussion.

[tw25rw]

Surprising it got as far as India before being challenged.

[NUMBNUTTS]

Ya got me flummoxed there too, man ... maybe its a new Toxin Time Machine - I guess it must all be a huge misunderstanding - no matter - the world's Military - dont wanna get too specific in case it sows more confusion - but the unnamed guys who fly single seat for unnamed countries - they are always there in case the wonks in the front of the unnamed plane aint - thus far all I have heard is rather wimpy excuses for a craft from an unnamed country flying to another unnamed country on an unnamed mission, got clear across to the other side of the world, with nary a challenge. Awlright!! Methinks this whole thing is a BBC windup.

Maybe ya have to actually crash first, in the ocean, before ya get to name names?!

I don't understand where the airbus thing comes in to this discussion.

[JUDAS]

Oh the hypocrisy of it all - the vitriol, the unheeded, useless cry for revenge and damnation from the unwashed.

Were we only living circa 1930, when a raggedy little limp wristed lamebrain narrow minded, uneducated smelly wimpy testosterone deprived, sashaying swishy lad of dubious parenthood, even less documented lineage, a product no doubt of a pathetic, lustless, mechanical evening tryst beneath some hops riddled table amongst the urine & feces and sawdust of one of Europe's better know brothels, methinks perhaps even such venue of higher learning to some, where any original thought other than murder or oppression or treason was the passport to its portals, where truth and triumph of good over evil was forced into submission, where human spirits were culled and vanquished, where the greatest lies on Earth where ever hatched and spread like fire in a dry woodland, in the mind of an evil a persona as never before seen on this Earth, nor will ever be hatched again, for so long as man is cognicent of the folly of his own ways and unconcerned with the lies of others, their protestations or interpretations of what should, or should not be heard by one and all - the Truth shall set ye free.

Which part of the truth do ya not like or understand this time?!

Ya only like Boeing mishaps?!

Tried google for a translation but no joy

[EndofDays]

Oh the hypocrisy of it all - the vitriol, the unheeded, useless cry for revenge and damnation from the unwashed.

Were we only living circa 1930, when a raggedy little limp wristed lamebrain narrow minded, uneducated smelly wimpy testosterone deprived, sashaying swishy lad of dubious parenthood, even less documented lineage, a product no doubt of a pathetic, lustless, mechanical evening tryst beneath some hops riddled table amongst the urine & feces and sawdust of one of Europe's better know brothels, methinks perhaps even such venue of higher learning to some, where any original thought other than murder or oppression or treason was the passport to its portals, where truth and triumph of good over evil was forced into submission, where human spirits were culled and vanquished, where the greatest lies on Earth where ever hatched and spread like fire in a dry woodland, in the mind of an evil a persona as never before seen on this Earth, nor will ever be hatched again, for so long as man is cognicent of the folly of his own ways and unconcerned with the lies of others, their protestations or interpretations of what should, or should not be heard by one and all - the Truth shall set ye free.

Which part of the truth do ya not like or understand this time?!

Ya only like Boeing mishaps?!

Wow, you are my new literary hero.

[ajarnmark]

Surprising it got as far as India before being challenged.

Exactly, no one is looking from this aspect!

This is a political drama

Besides do military aircrafts fly at the same speed as a commercial airliner?