# Military aircraft escorting commercial flight back to departure airport... Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924 "2019-06-23T09:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/1 "2019-06-23T09:02:48Z")
According to [this BBC report from yesterday](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-essex-48732642), a flight bound for Turkey was turned back due to a disruptive passenger. Two Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to escort the flight back to its destination. Does anyone know, or have any thoughts, as to what these two fighter jets could possibly do to help in this situation? Because the only thing I can think of is shooting the aircraft down if it looked like it was going to be crashed into a high-density population area, which just sounds ridiculously Hollywood even as I type it. But what else could they be doing which would materially help? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/2 "2019-06-23T10:31:46Z")
Ridiculously Hollywood? Have you been living under a rock? Shooting it down if necessary is precisely why they were sent. The other reason it makes sense to send fighter jets is that when you want to put some external eyes on that aircraft to view into the cockpit and try to observe the situation as best as possible, you need to send something that can fly fast enough to get over there right away. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/3 "2019-06-23T11:11:56Z")
They’re there to prevent another 9/11, like Bear\_Nenno says. The “disruptive passenger” might be a diversion to create the opportunity to get into the flight deck and then kill lots of people using the aircraft as a missile. It’s an unlikely scenario but the fighters do no harm by being there just in case. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/4 "2019-06-23T11:14:21Z")
Fair enough, but this was an unruly passenger, and there was no reported threat of high jacking, threatening to blow up the aircraft etc. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of this sort of incident happening before without the military being sent in. I also find it somewhat amusing that the article is focused on people worried about the noise of the sonic boom, rather than OHMYGODTHEYWEREGOINGTOSHOOTDOWNAPASSENGERPLANE!! British insouciance, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/5 "2019-06-23T11:39:50Z")
Well, an intercept can be a good exercise for pilots and air traffic controllers. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/6 "2019-06-23T12:14:11Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I also find it somewhat amusing that the article is focused on people worried about the noise of the sonic boom, rather than OHMYGODTHEYWEREGOINGTOSHOOTDOWNAPASSENGERPLANE!! Because everyone knows that they’d rather shoot a plane down than allow another 9/11. It’s not news. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/7 "2019-06-23T12:41:07Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Well, an intercept can be a good exercise for pilots and air traffic controllers. That crossed my mind… ie this was treated more as an exercise than any serious concern. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/8 "2019-06-23T14:23:18Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Fair enough, but this was an unruly passenger, and there was no reported threat of high jacking, threatening to blow up the aircraft etc. Ever play the telephone game? There’s no telling what message the military actually received. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/9 "2019-06-23T15:18:21Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Because the only thing I can think of is shooting the aircraft down if it looked like it was going to be crashed into a high-density population area, which just sounds ridiculously Hollywood even as I type it. The ‘ridiculously Hollywood’ scenario is exactly what they’re preparing for, and happened in real life with… more than a little news coverage. It’s probably the most prominent event of the 2000s and has had a strong influence on politics since then. There’s no OHMYGODTHEYWEREGOINGTOSHOOTDOWNAPASSENGERPLANE because that’s the response people expect to a 9/11 style hijacking. I find your questions really strange, and feel like asking ‘have you been frozen since the 90s?’ - the idea that fighters will shoot down a hijacked plan rather than let it cause massive destruction might have been shocking two decades ago, but is certainly not now. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-aircraft-escorting-commercial-flight-back-to-departure-airport-why/835924/10 "2019-06-24T00:40:33Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > It’s probably the most prominent event of the 2000s Probably? Yes. With a probability approaching 100%