Hijack Code, Radio Silence: What Shut Nuremberg Airport for Hours

Hijack Code, Radio Silence: What Shut Nuremberg Airport for Hours

Airport suspends all flights over 'aviation emergency'

Nuremberg Airport in Bavaria, southern Germany, halted all takeoffs and landings on Tuesday after it declared an "aviation emergency" on its website. The statement gave no further reason and said more information would follow, but it named a specific inbound service from the Greek island of Corfu and said that aircraft had "landed safely." Police in Mittelfranken wrote on X that they had "received a report of an unclear air emergency" and that investigations into the cause were under way. Local officers later told CNN that there was no danger and that everyone on board was safe.

Cockpit sent a hijack code, then went silent

The alert appears to have begun inside the cockpit shortly before midday. Police said an emergency report was received from within the aircraft, and German media reported that the crew transmitted the standard transponder code 7500, which signals a hijacking, before radio contact with the ground was lost entirely. The iNews reported that the pilot could not be reached by radio, while the Sun said officers described an in-flight emergency on flight XR 456 from Corfu. A police spokesperson told Focus Online: "We are assuming a possible in-flight emergency. However, this is still unconfirmed."

Two Eurofighters escorted the Boeing to the runway

Germany's air traffic control authority said the aircraft was escorted through German airspace by two Eurofighters from the German Air Force's Tactical Air Wing 74, based at Neuburg an der Donau in Bavaria. That unit maintains two jets around the clock as an "alert squadron." An airport spokesperson said the military aircraft had since returned to base. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24, cited by AeroTime and the Mirror, identified the plane as a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration 9H-CXD, operating flight XR456 and scheduled to arrive around 12:15 p.m.; it touched down at 12:16 p.m.

Police declare 'no danger' after on-site checks

Officers cordoned off the airport and launched an investigation before the plane landed. "The aircraft in question is a scheduled flight from Corfu, which landed in Nuremberg as planned. On-site inspections have determined that there is no danger," police posted on X. Border police, airport management and German air traffic control carried out a security sweep with departures and arrivals halted as a precaution. By the afternoon, authorities had issued an all-clear, and news agencies reported the story under headlines describing a brief shutdown of the airport.

Three pilots reported a possible drone before dawn

A separate scare had already disrupted the airport earlier in the day. Bavarian police said that between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., three pilots independently reported seeing an unidentified object, possibly a drone, during takeoff or landing procedures. The border police station at the airport coordinated a search with the airport and German air traffic control, deploying a police helicopter, but could not verify the sighting. Spokesperson Michael Petzold said the measures "did not lead to the verification of the reported object," the Anadolu Agency reported. Flight operations were temporarily disrupted during that first operation.

Six flights delayed, two diverted to Cologne and Prague

An airport spokesperson said six flights were delayed during the disruption — two arrivals and four departures — while two inbound aircraft were diverted as a precaution. Bluewin reported that those planes went to Cologne and Prague and were later able to continue to Nuremberg; the AP, citing the dpa news agency, said two inbound flights were sent to other airports. No injuries were reported, and passengers on the Corendon service from Corfu reached their destination as scheduled.

Police still investigating a possible link between the scares

Neither the police nor the airport has tied the early-morning drone reports to the midday emergency code. Bluewin noted that the two operations were triggered by different events and that it was initially unclear whether they were connected. Three questions therefore remain open: why the 7500 code was transmitted, why radio contact dropped, and what the object seen before dawn actually was.

What comes next: an ongoing investigation

The official line from the police remains that "investigations into the cause are currently under way," while the airport has promised only that further information will follow. The key issues ahead are whether the hijack code was a false alarm, an equipment fault or the result of external interference; whether airspace rules over Nuremberg will be tightened; and whether the Luftwaffe's alert squadron will be expected to scramble more often as drone sightings continue to disrupt European airports.