Air Serbia’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft en route from Moscow to Belgrade this Wednesday was shadowed by an alleged NATO fighter jet while still near the Russia - Latvia boarder. An official report filed by Air Serbia’s pilots reads, “Not far from the Russian border with Latvia, Russian Air Traffic Control sent initial traffic information to warn us of the existence of another aircraft next to ours. Two minutes later they issued another warning to visually identify the aircraft and its altitude. It was a grey military fighter jet, which was likely a Phantom or Eurofighter. The aircraft was some 2.000 to 2.500 feet beneath ours and made a right turn, without endangering the safety of our aircraft. We informed Air Traffic Control that we had visual contact but without giving further details”. The report further adds, “This incident was concerning and made us feel very uncomfortable until we left Russian airspace. We recommend that greater attention be taken into preparing these flights which are proceeding during times of increased risk and war”.
Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, said further information of the incident will be requested both from Russia and NATO. “We want to find out who is playing games and endangering the safety of passengers by flying fighter jets around and why. We have the exact coordinates where this aircraft appeared. We are under significant pressure because Serbia is the only European country that maintains flights to Moscow and St Petersburg”. He added, “Let’s not forget how we were accused of Ukrainian blood being on our planes. I do not remember that flights from Kiev to London, Budapest or Vienna were suspended when NATO bombed Serbia”.
Air Serbia has been targeted for maintaining operations to Russia since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Its flights to the country have faced near-daily bomb threats. Yesterday evening, Air Serbia’s sales office in downtown Belgrade was evacuated for a second day in a row after an anonymous e-mail warned of explosives inside the building. All of the bomb threats have so far been false. A so-called “hit list” against select Air Serbia employees has also been forwarded in a further escalation. Serbian authorities are probing the incidents, which it is treating as terrorism. They have noted the threats are being sent from Ukraine and are being coordinated with assistance from a foreign intelligence agency.
I think this is an introduction to them ending flights to Russia
ReplyDeleteSame
DeleteIt doesn't seem they have any such plans.
DeleteThis is crazy. Why is Airserbia still flying there after all? It's not like they innocent. ..there is a war going on there and if they wanna gamble with they life thats on them but I wouldn't fly there, period. It's not all.about money people... Your life is precious, use it wisely.
DeleteA war in Moscow? Or Poland/Baltic countries they fly over? Did I miss some news?
Delete@Anonymous09:02
Delete"I think this is an introduction to them ending flights to Russia"
Actually you could be right, NATO might stop flights over its territory for Serbian Airlines especially over Baltic states due to current heighten security condition. Also I doubt NATO aircraft would fly over Russian Air Space, so pilot is either trying to escalate situation that is already quite tense. No doubt NATO will close airspace for Air Serbia to fly over Baltic States or Poland. This still leaves route over Black Sea/Sochi and in to Russia.
I guess not everyone can understand....try to read between the lines @10:50...
Delete@12:13
DeleteThere's definitely heightened security around that area.. and that's why I don't understand why do some airlines still fly around there....
Didn't we not learned anything from Malaysian Airlines that was shot down over Ukraine?
Aha so did you voice your concerns and ask Air Baltic to suspend all operations?
DeleteMalaysian was flying directly over a warzone.
DeleteYou are so angry
DeleteThis is getting out of hand
ReplyDeleteBig time!
DeleteSad thing is if this was an American, German or British civilian jetliner... All hell would break loose in the diplomatic community and media outlets... Cynical as it gets
+1000
DeleteTK actually increased their flights to LED after the war in Ukraine started.
DeleteFlights to Russia must be suspended temporarily.
ReplyDeleteIt's not worth the reputation damage to the brand of Air Serbia.
Agree. Simply not worth it.
DeleteI agree, the moment TK does it so should JU.
DeleteTK's safety culture is something to be avoided, not emulated.
DeleteSo let me see Anon 10:39:
DeleteA NATO fighter jet blatantly put lives of civilian passengers in danger, and this is somehow a matter of JU's or TK's safety culture?
That flight was perfectly legal and in line with all IATA/ICAO requirements. EU members who have issues with Russia approved the flight through their airspaces.
Then, NATO stepped in to play dirty politics and put the lives of passengers and crew on the line. And we are now to discuss the safety culture? Well if we should discuss any safety culture here, it should be that of NATO. I must say that I after this insanity I have somewhat changed my perspective on what might have happened to MH17 in 2014.
Blaming this on JU is the Stockholm syndrome at its best.
So you're suggesting that Ukraine/NATO sent an aircraft near MH17 on purpose and it ended up getting shot down?
DeleteI am not suggesting anything but after this NATO move I am not ruling out anything either. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior. Playing chicken with rival jets and doing dumb things close to each other's airspace is one thing - deliberately putting a couple of hundred innocent civilians on the line of fire is something else. In a fair and balanced world, the head of NATO would have resigned five times by now, and the highest officer in the chain of command of this mission would stand trial and do jail time together with the pilot.
DeleteAdd more flights
ReplyDeleteWe must trust Vucic when he said that it was NATO aircraft in Russian air space LOOOOL
ReplyDeleteIt was pilot's statement. Try to read it carefully.
DeleteAircraft type that was following the plane would indicate so as was filed in JU's official report.
DeleteSure, a "Phantom 15" would indicate a NATO aircraft, wouldn't it? Those JAT pilots need a refresher training about aircraft types.
DeleteWhy does an Air Serbia pilot (don't know where you got JAT) have to know military aircraft types? I also don't see that the pilot said it was a NATO plane. The article title says:
DeleteAir Serbia aircraft shadowed by UNITEDENTIFIED fighter jet in Russia.
well if there is a pilot statement why does Vucic request additional hearing from both Russian and NATO air commands?
DeleteBecause it is the most logical thing to do.
DeleteEerily reminiscent of the Korean 007 flight in 1983 which ended tragically. There are many other such incidents which ended fatally and tragically... very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWar brings the worst out of people.
I mean, who deals with bomb threats and stuff like that? Who has time to check JU employee list and threaten them? Madneess
ReplyDeleteObviously someone that isn't normal
DeleteWhat I don't understand is that in the middle of war and your country crumbling you have time to make fake emails and send these threats. Too much time on their hands.
DeleteThis is done by so called diplomats and security agents of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states .
DeleteIt is part of their foreign policy .
Appalling
ReplyDeleteAt least this morning LED and SVO flights departed normally.
ReplyDeleteI would suspend flights based on this
ReplyDelete“This incident was concerning and made us feel very uncomfortable until we left Russian airspace. We recommend that greater attention be taken into preparing these flights which are proceeding during times of increased risk and war”.
Quote from pilot report I presume??
DeleteIt says so in the article
Delete"An official report filed by Air Serbia’s pilots reads"
If they don't feel comfortable flying in Russian airspace, it's perhaps time to stop flying to Russia?
DeleteJust saying, safety first.
There was a bomb threat on yesterday's flight from Moscow too. :/
ReplyDeleteTK is also being targeted by these idiots lately.
DeleteI don't understand : There is a NATO jet fighter into Russian airspace and Russian airforce did nothing for this??!!! Someone is lying here!
ReplyDeleteIt obviously appeared when this happened. What happened afterwards we don't know.
DeleteWhat should have they done? To send a missile hitting civilian plane?
DeleteOr to go in dog fight with it 2000 feet far from A332?
They could sent an aircraft, no one is allowed to enter without a warning in your national airspace. Either it is a civilian airplane or not.
DeleteJust because it is not allowed does not mean it does not happen. Last month Russian fighter jets entered Swedish airspace.
DeleteCorrect.
DeleteRussian fighter entered Swedish air space but it was not hiding behind civilian aircraft.
And what did Swedish airforce do? They sent an aircraft and restrain it.
DeleteRestrain it? The plane was out of Swedish airspace before the Sweidsh plane even departed. It does not happen automatically. And we don't know if Russia sent a military plane too.
DeleteThe main topic here is that NATO used civilian plane for their games.
DeleteThey put in danger 250 passengers on civilian plane and it was NOT the case in Sweden.
If you send a fighter plane to react it means there is a possiblity fight to happen and civilian plane to be hit.
I hope you do see the difference.
To me this seems like it was exactly a provocation in an attempt to cause a response and put in danger over 200 people on the plane.
DeleteFully agree
DeleteOf course it is done on purpose .
DeleteThe shooting down of the airplane is intended by the fighter jet that hides in its shadow .
Thankfully everything turned out ok.
ReplyDeleteIt is still unacceptable.
DeleteDangerous
ReplyDeleteEven this particular flight was late 3 and a half hours because of threats.
ReplyDeleteIt happens daily
DeleteWhat a nuisance for passengers that have nothing to do with this war.
DeleteThe airline too
DeleteIf anyone is to blame for putting these passengers in danger then it's the Ukrainian government.
ReplyDelete+1000
Delete"Anonymous09:44
DeleteIf anyone is to blame for putting these passengers in danger then it's the Ukrainian government. "
Yeah, Ukraine is sending its phantoms to scare Air Serbia?
They certainly have the time to orchestrate hoax bomb threats.
DeleteEmirates' Sir Tim Clark said it best regarding Russia flights. “As long as the state, our owner, requires us to fly there, we will continue. We carry humanitarian goods in our holds. We’ve got NGOs traveling in and out of Russia. We’ve got the diplomatic community going in and out of Russia ... so all we’re doing is being an enabler, facilitator, without taking a political position on this for the time being”.
ReplyDeleteThere is something quite odd in this story.
ReplyDeleteIf a NATO fighter jet entered Russian airspace... why didn't Russian air forces intervene?! Aren't they able to defend their airspace?!
How do you know they didn't and how would they intervene? Blow up the plane next to an A330? Perhaps that was the desired aim, to put in danger a commercial flight.
DeleteThis is a pure fabrication by Vucic and team to start the end of the flights. I am sure that at 40000ft in the middle of the night they could identify the type of fighter and the color...come on, this is BS. Russian media / sources would use that already to blame NATO of any such action and there has been zero reaction on this " event". Pure fabrication as many assassination attempts on tje Serbian president.
ReplyDeleteMiddle of the night? The plane was near the Latvian border at 13.44 UTC. You can check on flightradar. That is 16.44 local summer time in a place wherr it os daylight till 21.00. Only person who seems to be fabricating is you.
DeleteAlso I highly doubt Vucic could play games with Nato.
DeleteThese flights must be bringing them a whole lot of money if they are so persistent with all these challenges.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is a matter of principle now and not being ordered around by some terrorist sending threats.
DeleteProbably but at what price
DeleteConsidering Serbia yesterday in the UN voted in favor of expelling Russia from UN human rights council, it is likely that this is the start of flight suspension to Russia.
ReplyDeleteIt won't, that vote is completely irrelevant.
Delete"Phantom 15"? No such thing exists. Maybe they meant an F-15. If it was so far that they could not tell whether if it's an F-15 or a Eurofighter (not a hard one with the double tail and the delta wing) a then how do they know it was NATO and not a russian one? ATC asked a commercial flight to identify a military aircraft and its altitude? Something is fishy here.
ReplyDeleteBecause Russia has neither one of those planes in its military fleet. You're all experts.
DeleteYou don't need to be an expert to know that it's impossible to mix an F-15 with a Eurofighter. However it's very very easy to mix and F-15 with a Su-27. Mainly from the top as in the case described here. So far the only side playing games with civilian traffic was Russia when they hijacked the Ryanair flight.
DeleteAh ok. I will trust you. You must have been on the flight and seen everything.
DeleteTnx for the info, are you providing military aircraft training to JU (civilian, btw) pilots?
DeleteSerbia need an excuse to stop those flights without losing face. It was only a nuisance and continuous trouble for Air Serbia anyway.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous11:03
DeleteSerbia need an excuse to stop those flights without losing face. It was only a nuisance and continuous trouble for Air Serbia anyway."
I think you'll find Vucis is far bigger "nuisance and continuous trouble" for Air Serbia and Serbia itself, but that's whole new topic i shall not engage in.
Air Serbia keep going, dont let you irritate. Turks, Israeli and Middle Eastern Carriers, Chinese, Indian, Ethiopian Carrier are still flying to or over Russia, no reason for JU to stop.
ReplyDeleteJU 520 BEGLAX
DeleteWhich of the cites airlines are based in a Common European Aviation Area (CEAA) country and what that entails?
Take France or Germany, for example, they can restrict any of the airlines you mentioned to fly to their markets but not Air Serbia. This should be very obvious to someone like you.
I don't think that's the usual JU520 beglax
DeleteI don't understand if those continuous threats are coming from Ukraine or Poland. I know the Poles are strict defensors of the Ukrainians at the moment...
ReplyDeleteMust be nonsense. At that time of night it would be impossible to distinguish type of aircraft. If a NATO aircraft had been in Russian airspace, I think Moscow would have made a very big issue of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat time of night? The inicdent was in the middle of the day. Before you post nonsense, at least check the schedule.
DeleteI love the amount of experts on here yet they have no idea of even when the plane was in the air. @anon 13.33 you could have done a simple check on Flightradar to see that the plane was near the Latvian border in the middle of the day (the whole flight was during day time). I'm sure Air Serbia pilots filed incidence reports because they were bored. The audacity of some here because of their political preferences is astounding.
DeleteI dont understand the drama about JU flying to Russia. TK, QR , EK, MS etc fly there and nonody bothers…
ReplyDeleteAli gde nađoše “Phantom“LoL :) F je oznaka za “Fighter”.
ReplyDeleteVery dangerous game is being played here. I would not like to be on these flights. Isn't this also super risky for AS? - I can understand that they make money here, but the risk is massive.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is sickening and if something happens and civil aircraft goes down - no one will be taken to justice..... Truly sad.
Изгледа да су експерти отишли на пуш паузу па су пропустили ову данашњу вест са б92:
ReplyDeleteTokom današnjeg dana avion kompanije Er Srbija, na letu JU 671, koji je išao iz Sankt Peterburga ka Beogradu, tokom preleta iznad teritorije Litvanije, ispratili su borbeni avioni sa oznakama Belgije, prenose mediji.
"... threats are ... being coordinated with assistance from a foreign intelligence agency."
ReplyDeleteWhich one?
Globalist psychos want to control everything. Serbia will cave under pressure in no time
ReplyDeleteThese flights are not worth it.
ReplyDelete