INN reports that on Monday, El Al flight LY338 to Israel took off from Amsterdam as planned, but at a cruising altitude of 37,000 feet above Germany, Austrian fighter jets were launched in its direction.

Regional air traffic control asked the pilots to switch to another frequency for the next leg of the journey. The plane did not make contact with the air traffic control station as required - nor did it respond to calls to contact it from the German and Austrian controllers, not even when they tried to contact it on several different frequencies.

Air traffic control asked planes flying near the El Al flight to try to contact the pilot, but these calls went unanswered as well. During all this time, the plane continued to fly according to the flight plan without deviation, at the planned altitude and speed.

When no contact call was answered, in accordance with protocol in such cases, Austrian Eurofighter fighter jets were launched to approach the plane and make eye contact with the crew. Only after the fighter planes took off was the connection between the plane and the air traffic control resumed. The fighter jets returned to their base and the El Al plane continued on its way to Israel without any further incidents.

There was no communication between the airplane and air traffic control for about twelve minutes.

Source - INN/Twitter - Image - El Al