# Nuremberg Airport Briefly Shut Down as Fighter Jets Scramble Over Hijack Scare > German authorities briefly closed Nuremberg airport and scrambled fighter jets to escort an incoming Corendon Airlines flight after the aircraft transmitted an emergency hijack code over Croatia, a scare that turned out to be a radio malfunction rather than a real threat. - Source: Berlin Today - Canonical URL: https://berlintoday.eu/article/nuremberg-airport-briefly-shut-down-as-fighter-jets-scramble-over-hijack-scare - Author: Doug Brown - Section: News - Published: 2026-10-14T16:13:33.532Z - Updated: 2026-10-14T16:13:33.532Z - Tags: Germany, Nuremberg, airport, aviation security, hijacking scare, fighter jets, Corendon Airlines, drone incidents --- Nuremberg airport was temporarily shut down and fighter jets were scrambled into the sky after a passenger plane heading in from Greece triggered an emergency signal typically reserved for a suspected hijacking, setting off a tense stretch for German aviation authorities before the flight landed without incident. The aircraft, a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800 traveling from Corfu to Nuremberg with 178 passengers and crew aboard, touched down safely once the alarm was cleared, but not before the airport was cordoned off and military jets were sent up to intercept and escort it the rest of the way in. ## A Radio Glitch Mistaken for the Worst Case The scare began over Croatian airspace, where the plane's transponder sent out a code signaling a possible hijacking. Ground controllers then found they could not reach the cockpit by radio, leaving authorities with no way to rule out a genuine emergency in real time. A police spokesman, Michael Petzold, said that with no way to confirm what was happening aboard the aircraft, officials had little choice but to treat it as a worst-case scenario and plan accordingly, which is what triggered both the jet scramble and the airport's temporary closure. ## Knock-On Disruption on the Ground The precautionary shutdown rippled through the airport's schedule, with six flights delayed and two inbound services diverted elsewhere while the situation was sorted out. Once the plane landed safely and was confirmed secure, operations at Nuremberg gradually returned to normal. Corendon Airlines later said the entire episode traced back to a brief malfunction in the aircraft's radio communication system, not any kind of security threat, and stressed that passengers and crew were never in any danger at any point during the flight. ## Why Germany Is on Edge The false alarm landed at a moment when German aviation security is already running on a hair trigger. The country has spent recent months tightening airport precautions following a string of drone sightings near sensitive sites, including an incident in August that the German government blamed on Russia after drones were spotted near Leipzig/Halle Airport. Western officials have repeatedly accused Moscow of running a broader sabotage campaign across Europe tied to the war in Ukraine, a backdrop that helps explain why a routine radio glitch on a holiday flight from Corfu was enough to put fighter jets in the air rather than being waved off as a minor technical hiccup. --- Originally published by Berlin Today. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://berlintoday.eu/article/nuremberg-airport-briefly-shut-down-as-fighter-jets-scramble-over-hijack-scare.