Overview
- Early on Tuesday three pilots reported an unknown object over Albrecht-Dürer Airport between about 02:00 and 04:00, prompting searches by border police and a police helicopter and causing six flights to be delayed or briefly diverted.
- Around midday a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737 from Korfu transmitted the transponder distress code 7500, which signals a possible hijacking, and the crew could not be reached briefly so Eurofighter jets and large police units were scrambled and the airport was sealed.
- The jet landed safely at roughly 12:10–12:16 and officers and special units inspected the aircraft before police announced an all‑clear and allowed flight operations to resume from about 13:30.
- Early investigative findings point to either a defective cockpit radio or an accidental wrong code entry by the crew as the likely cause, investigators say that the probe is ongoing and that the pilot is not suspected of intentional wrongdoing.
- The 7500 code cannot be cancelled once sent and routinely triggers costly, wide‑ranging responses including fighter escorts, special forces and passenger support teams, while the morning drone reports remain unconfirmed and authorities warn such false alarms can still disrupt many travellers.