SIA Plane Sends Transponder Code Indicating Hijack While In Flight
Now that travel is back on the cards for most countries, more flights have been made available to cater to growing demand.
But while in the air, some unexpected incidents may sometimes occur.
On Saturday (11 Jun), a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight bound for Singapore from Los Angeles sent out a 7500 transponder code, indicating a possible hostile takeover of the aircraft.
The code was sent shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport.
No emergency signal was received after that, which means it was likely a technical glitch.
Technical glitch on SIA plane results in false hijack alarm
On 11 Jun, some tweets started circulating about the 7500 transponder code sent by SQ37 while in flight, which seemed to suggest a hijacking situation. According to the Daily Mail Online, one tweet was sent by former Reuters journalist Noreen Jameel.
Other tweets soon followed.
Source: @Elill_E on Twitter
Daily Mail also reported that the flight, bound for Singapore, had taken off from Los Angeles shortly before midnight.
According to flight tracker ADS-B Exchange, the 7500 transponder code was sent shortly after takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport.
Source: @Elill_E on Twitter
The plane is slated to reach Singapore on Sunday (12 Jun) at about 7.50am.
Shortly after, no other emergency signal was received, and the flight continued on its normal course.
This seemed to indicate that the 7500 transponder code sent was a false alarm or technical glitch.
New Straits Times reported that the flight was on schedule, according to FlightAware.
SIA confirms there is no emergency on board SQ plane
Daily Mail said SIA had confirmed there was no emergency situation on board SQ37.
But it did not explain why the code had been sent.
SIA was quoted as saying, “Singapore Airlines is in contact with the pilots on board SQ37, operated on an Airbus A350-900, which departed Los Angeles International Airport on 10 June 2022 at around 2355hrs local time.”
It added,
The pilots have confirmed that there is no emergency on board. The flight is enroute to Singapore, and is scheduled to arrive on 12 June 2022 at around 0750hrs local time.
Since the 9-11 terrorist attack, security rules have been tightened to prevent hijacks. Daily Mail said that many items are now prohibited on board planes, and cockpit doors in the United States have been made tougher to make forced entries more difficult.
Air marshals are also deployed on flights. In the event of a hijack, a plane can send a 7500 transponder code to air traffic controllers to inform them of the situation so they can react.
The Passenger Arrivals page on the Changi Airport website shows that SQ37 has landed safely at 7.32am.
Source: Changi Airport
Glad it was a false alarm
Recent tragedies have shown that many things can happen when a plane is thousands of feet in the air.
While we are unsure how and why the transponder code was sent, we are relieved no hijacking took place.
Hopefully, SIA will investigate the incident and look into how it can prevent technical glitches in the future.
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Featured image adapted from by JACQUES PANAS on Flickr and @Elill_E on Twitter.
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