Fighter jets were alerted to intercept a plane when it stopped communicating — and the pilot got fined over $5,000

• A pilot has been fined for losing contact with air traffic control.
• Britain’s Royal Air Force then scrambled to intercept the plane due to hijacking concerns.
• Pilots in UK air space can face two years in prison if they don’t maintain radio communication.

A pilot has been fined after failing to maintain communication with air traffic control, which led to a flight being intercepted by Britain’s Royal Air Force.

An investigation by the UK Civil Aviation Authority found that Captain Christopher Hollands did not appropriately communicate via radio with air traffic control during an SAS flight from Oslo to the English city of Manchester in February last year.

This is against British law per the Air Navigation Order of 2016.

Hollands was sentenced to pay £4,511 ($5,849) on March 20 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.

According to the CAA, communication was lost for more than 30 minutes during the flight. This led to air traffic control alerting the RAF over fears that the lack of communication could be a sign of a hijacking.

Two Typhoon fighter jets intercepted the Airbus A320 aircraft, which was carrying 58 passengers. When the plane landed in Manchester, it was sent to an isolated part of the airport and boarded by armed police.

Glenn Bradley, the head of flight operations at the CAA, said in a statement that incidents of lost communication like this “are a matter of great concern both for us as the aviation regulator, and for the Government.”

“Aviation is one of the safest methods of transportation, and it relies on pilots maintaining radio communication with air traffic control through the standard channels during flight,” Bradley said.

“We continue to work with pilots, airlines, and the Government to reduce similar incidents, including by prosecuting offenders when appropriate to maintain confidence in UK aviation’s safety and security.”

Hollands is the first pilot to ever be prosecuted under this law in the UK. The CAA is now warning other pilots that if an incident of lost communication is deemed serious enough, they could face up to two years imprisonment.