A very polite Invitation

Didn't know we were at war with Latvia! :LOL:
 
Apparently he wasn't talking to London Control, which isn't in London, and that triggers a fighter scramble, in this case 2 of HM's finest Typhoons.
Although he was destined for Birmingham, as he'd been naughty, he was issued with the warning and went to Stanstead to explain himself.

Jesting apart, it happens, pilots miss dial the next frequency and end up talking to no one, or thin air. The result is a some formation practice with a pair of fighters, as it was here.
 
Even though it may have been a genuine misunderstanding, it does go to show how twitchy and nervous the world really is.
 
Like something you see in the movies lol. 50mile radius for the bang though, now that's impressive. Would have been awesome to see.
 
And they went supersonic as well ! Would have loved to hear that.

Glad everything was okay in the end...
 
My facebook newsfeed went mad :lol: heard all through our village and surrounding. Was funny reading all the guessing work on some of them
 
kelack said:
My facebook newsfeed went mad :LOL: heard all through our village and surrounding. Was funny reading all the guessing work on some of them
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Heard at work too as I was walking out to the car. :-)
 
viv1969 said:
Heard at work too as I was walking out to the car. :)
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Just reminded me of this doodle I did a couple of years ago . . .

SonicBoomcartoon_zps1e5dcda7.jpg~original
 
I hope the freighter crew were wearing their brown corduroy trousers.
 
I also heard the sonic boom/s from where I work as I was out in the carpark at the time.

I used to work at Stansted some years ago, and always found it fascinating/exciting when aircraft were escorted in. I cant remember the year off the top of my head, but there was one time (possibly 2001 or 2002 a hostage situation if i remember correctly) where it was difficult to get to my office in Enterprise House because there was so much press inside and outside covering it. there was talk in the office about the SAS being on site etc.

**Edited to add**

Just checked, and it was 2000. An Afghan Airliner that had been highjacked with 150 passengers on board.
 
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Thats because STN is the designated airport for Hijackings. Mind you, if they say, erm...No, we want to go to Heathrow, then thats where they'd end up, and we had all the things needed there anyway.
Stanstead is just used because 1, it's less disruption and 2. it's easier to hide things from the press that you really don't want the world knowing about.
 
Bernie174 said:
2 RAF Typhoons intercepted a Latvian cargo aircraft earlier today, and issued to the linked invitation.

https://soundcloud.com/egxwinfo-gr-up/qra-warning-from-raf-typhoons-to-mitavia1605-291014

Oddly the Latvians accepted
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Interesting, thanks for posting.
The pilot was impressive with his very calm "I am instructed by Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom to warn you that if you do not respond immediately to my warning, you will be shot down." although that level of professional calmness is something very British - but I'm a bit surprised by the formality.
 
I used to hear quite a bit,lived near an RAF & USAF bases & a large Battle Area used be like an warzone some days & nights :D
 
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I believe it is a standard warning, ie there's nothing special about this intercept, they all get much the same form of words.

The question is, would HMG actually authorise the shooting down of an aircraft over the UK in the event of non compliance, or would they bottle it?

There was a TV documentary a few years ago, where they did a run through with some ex ministers similar scenario, although at some point it was apparent that it was a hijacking. They umm'd and ah'd for a very long time, enough for it to be (in a simulated way obviously) flown into the HoP.

Leaving aside that once it's over London, someones going to get hurt in the aluminum shower, would any current Minister give the nod? I somehow doubt it.
 
Bernie174 said:
I believe it is a standard warning, ie there's nothing special about this intercept, they all get much the same form of words.

The question is, would HMG actually authorise the shooting down of an aircraft over the UK in the event of non compliance, or would they bottle it?

There was a TV documentary a few years ago, where they did a run through with some ex ministers similar scenario, although at some point it was apparent that it was a hijacking. They umm'd and ah'd for a very long time, enough for it to be (in a simulated way obviously) flown into the HoP.

Leaving aside that once it's over London, someones going to get hurt in the aluminum shower, would any current Minister give the nod? I somehow doubt it.
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Yes, similar to what (I believe) happened with the Yanks on 9/11 - all the right people were well aware of the danger but nobody actually took a decision to intercept and destroy until it was too late, and their planes weren't even armed and ready anyway, so even if they had attacked it would have had to be a suicide attack by the pilots. Somehow, I can't see that happening with the RAF, either before or after 9/11
 
@Garry Edwards What makes you think that the US kept their fighters all unarmed and unready prior to 9/11?
 
viv1969 said:
@Garry Edwards What makes you think that the US kept their fighters all unarmed and unready prior to 9/11?
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I can't remember the details - long time ago - but it there was a TV programme about it - obviously I don't believe everything that's on TV, but these things normally have at least an element of truth to them.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I can't remember the details - long time ago - but it there was a TV programme about it - obviously I don't believe everything that's on TV, but these things normally have at least an element of truth to them.
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ohhhh OK o_O
 
Good old Ginger protecting Blighty from Johnny Foreigner. :rolleyes:

Sounds like a glorified PR exercise with the RAF tweeting "Apologies if we startled you during the successful intercept this afternoon - we only go supersonic over land when absolutely necessary."

Of course, if there were any operational RAF bases along the south coast then they could have intercepted the plodding Antonov a lot sooner rather than threatening to shoot it down over Greater London.
 
Bernie174 said:
Leaving aside that once it's over London, someones going to get hurt in the aluminum shower, would any current Minister give the nod? I somehow doubt it.
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Don't know how true this is but a friend of mine in the GMP force told me there is an area of moorland just to the north of Woodhead that would be used for the shooting down of aircraft in my area of the country. I would imagine there are many other areas set aside for the same senario.
 
beyond the blue said:
Don't know how true this is but a friend of mine in the GMP force told me there is an area of moorland just to the north of Woodhead that would be used for the shooting down of aircraft in my area of the country. I would imagine there are many other areas set aside for the same senario.
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Just so long as the stricken aircraft knows where its supposed to crash land in an undisclosed number of pieces.
 
Garry Edwards said:
The pilot was impressive with his very calm "I am instructed by Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom to warn you that if you do not respond immediately to my warning, you will be shot down." although that level of professional calmness is something very British - but I'm a bit surprised by the formality.
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Yeah, but they didn't broadcast the bit from ten seconds earlier when he was shouting "Bandit ahead! Tally Ho!!" ;)

... then he cleared his throat and said very calmly and formally ...
 
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Yes, similar to what (I believe) happened with the Yanks on 9/11 - all the right people were well aware of the danger but nobody actually took a decision to intercept and destroy until it was too late, and their planes weren't even armed and ready anyway, so even if they had attacked it would have had to be a suicide attack by the pilots. Somehow, I can't see that happening with the RAF, either before or after 9/11
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The US & Canada kept full armed fighters on QRA before and after 9/11, but in line with common sense at the time, they were all on the Northern Borders, where Bears and Bisons may have come a rolling if Putin's predecessors decided to help global warming. As no on e was expecting anything to happen, the rest of the USAF was lined up in pretty rows, without weapons on board.

When it all went pete tong they scrambled what they had, which was pretty much whoever was in a crew room in any aircraft ready to fly.

The UK is different, a QRA flight can, and does cover most of the Country. Although we have 2 flights, on in the North of Scotland, to greet the aforementioned bears and Bisons, and one in the middle..ish, Conningsby. So the means is there, and always has been. It's the will of a Politician that is the concern.

Of course, if there were any operational RAF bases along the south coast then they could have intercepted the plodding Antonov a lot sooner rather than threatening to shoot it down over Greater London.
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It was over Kent when intercepted, trouble is that the SE of the UK is very crowded, so makes no real difference where that happened. If someone with big trousers made a decision it would still give some people a sore head, unless we are all very lucky. Having fighters at a nearer station wouldn't make much difference, 5 minutes or so maybe. But having the QRA at the Typhoon main operating base is cheaper and means if something gets temperamental at startup, the replacements are on hand.The other thing is that climb to height in Lincs is much easier as there's far less traffic there. The South East is packed with Airliners, so while doable, it's easier elsewhere.
 
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