An Air Algérie flight intercepted by French Air Force off Marseille

A plane of the national airline Air Algerie was the subject this Tuesday, January 9 of an intervention in the sky by the French Air Force after the crew of the flight failed in its obligation “to maintain a constant dialogue with the air traffic controllers “, reported the French Ministry of Defense on Wednesday.

“Off the coast of Marseille (southern France), a Boeing 737 commercial flight of Air Algerie between Constantine and Lyon-Saint-Exupéry stopped responding to French air traffic control, fueling doubts about the intentions of the crew,” the French ministry said, adding that in response, the High Authority for Air Defense (HADA) “ordered the takeoff of a Mirage 2000 as an emergency from Air Base (BA) 115 Orange-Caritat.” 

The interception of the plane of Air Algerie was operated at 11:26 a.m at an altitude of 32,000 feet above the French city of Orange.

However, the aircraft did get back in touch with the civilian controllers in Marseilles a few minutes earlier, “the police measure of the sky was maintained by order of the HADA for verification of the elements of flight”. 

A picture of the Air Algérie aircraft in flight was taken for this purpose.

“Radio interrogations were also carried out by French military controllers”, indicated the French Ministry of Defense, stating that the Mirage 2000 crew “was able to ensure that the doubtful behavior had no other origin than ‘a failure of the Boeing 337 crew to maintain a constant dialogue with the air traffic controllers”.