On the morning of last Saturday (8/29), a drunk man hijacked a small Cessna 172 plane at Kalocsa Airport, Hungary. The pilot, in a state of intoxication, flew very close to the country's only nuclear power plant, located in Paks, which has special protection status with an airspace exclusion zone prohibiting civilian aircraft from approaching closer than 3.2 km at altitudes below 6,000 meters.
The aircraft was detected by military radars after entering the airspace exclusion zone near the nuclear power plant. Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi reported on the incident through a Facebook post. In response to the threat, two Gripen fighter jets were sent to the region to intercept the plane.
After the approach of the fighter jets, the intoxicated pilot made an emergency landing in a sunflower field. A rescue helicopter was sent to the location, accompanied by ground teams that moved to the landing area.
The man was detained after the emergency landing. The incident raised concerns due to the proximity of the hijacker's route to the Paks nuclear power plant, which is Hungary's only nuclear facility and has special protection against air threats.
