Scramble for Gioia’s Typhoons

This morning, around 08:00 CEST, a couple of Italian Air Force F-2000 Eurofighter was scrambled from Gioia del Colle AB to intercept an Air Canada Boeing 787-8 (reg. C-GHPY, f/n ACA898) that had lost radio contact with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) as it flew from Toronto to Athens.

The two Typhoons, under the guidance of personnel from the 22nd Integrated Missile Air Defense Group in Licola, Naples, were authorized to perform supersonic activity in order to reach the aircraft as quickly as possible.

Having verified that it was only a technical problem, the Boeing continued the flight as normal.

The scramble order was issued by Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) –Torrejon (Spain), the NATO headquarters in charge of surveillance in that area.