In the morning of today the F-2000 Eurofighter fighter aircraft of the Italian Air Force, in alarm service for the defense of the national airspace, carried out an intervention on the order of immediate take-off (in technical jargon called "scramble") to intercept and control a civilian aircraft that had lost radio contact with the air traffic authorities.
At about 11.40 the two F-2000 Eurofighters got up from the Istrana base, home of the 51st Wing, where a pair of interceptors in rotation between the Italian air defense departments have been risking for some time. The two fighters took off to intercept a single-engine propeller GLASS aircraft of Dutch nationality that had taken off from Poland and was headed for Voghera.
After a few minutes of take-off, the two interceptor fighters reached the Dutch plane. After having visually ascertained that there were no emergency conditions and re-established the radio contacts, the two F-2000 returned to the Istrana base.
The operational mission was activated following the order of "scramble" received from the CAOC (Combined Air Operation Center) of Torrejon, a NATO body responsible for the surveillance of the skies in the area, and took place under the control of the operational rooms of the air defense surveillance and defense system of the Italian Air Force.
