German airport briefly closed after mid-air emergency alert

Fighter jets were scrambled and an airport was briefly closed in southern Germany on Tuesday after an aircraft arriving from Greece transmitted an emergency code. 

Police gave the all-clear around one hour after the scheduled flight from the Greek island of Corfu landed at 12:10 pm (1010 GMT).

"On-site checks have shown that there is no danger," a police spokesman said, adding that an investigation into what triggered the 7500 emergency code alarm was ongoing. 

"Everything is fine on the aeroplane," he said. "The passengers are fine, and the pilots are fine."

According to investigators, there is currently evidence to suggest that the aircraft's radio system was faulty, especially as the pilots could no longer be reached after transmitting the emergency code. 

“About halfway through the flight, shortly after 11 am, we received a code directly from the cockpit which suggested a hostage-taking,” said police spokesman Michael Petzold.

"As we were then unable to contact the cockpit – or rather, the control tower was unable to contact the cockpit – we simply had to assume the worst, namely that it could indeed be a hostage-taking."

The case led authorities to temporarily close the airport for security reasons with a large contingent of police officers, Petzold said. 

Corendon Airlines has not yet commented on the incident.

The aircraft is a Boeing 737-800, which, depending on the configuration, can seat up to 189 passengers.

According to German air traffic control, fighter jets were dispatched from Tactical Air Force Wing 74 in Neuburg an der Donau, in Bavaria, where two Eurofighters are kept on round-the-clock alert for emergencies.

They accompanied the landing before hovering above the airport in case the aircraft lifted off again. 

After landing, the aircraft was initially parked on a remote apron to ensure that it was not a case of hijacking. 

The fire brigade and police arrived with their blue lights flashing. “Anyone sitting by the window would certainly have noticed that,” said the airport's managing director, Michael Hupe. 

The passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft once the all-clear was given. Special forces were also involved in the operation. 

According to an airport spokesman, six flights were delayed due to the temporary closure – two arrivals and four departures.

Separate drone incident

The incident came hours after police reported potential drone sightings at the airport. 

Three pilots independently reported sighting an object during take-off or landing that could have been a drone. 

The airport, border police and air traffic control immediately launched a search, including with a police helicopter. However, no drone was found.

A police spokesman said there was "absolutely no connection" between the two incidents.

Nuremberg is the second-largest city in the southern German state of Bavaria, after the capital, Munich.