AFP, Two French fighter jets tracked down and chaperoned a chartered plane full of British tourists Wednesday after it lost contact with air traffic controllers over France.
The 233 passengers, heading to London's Gatwick airport from the Spanish island of Majorca, saw the French air force planes as they briefly intercepted the chartered Boeing 757 aircraft over northwest France.
The Evening Standard reported the air force pilots accompanied the jetliner until it crossed over the Channel and out of French airspace.
But Thomas Cook Travel, the flight organiser, said there was never any risk to passengers.
“The aircraft was still visible to both Bordeaux and Brest controllers (in France) on their monitors and the captain has back-up radio communication systems onboard should he have required them,” a company spokesman said.
“The safety of both passengers and aircraft was never compromised,” he said, adding that the flight landed in London on schedule.
