RAF jet sparks hijack fears after 7500 Squawk over Wales – here’s what we know

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The aircraft, which sounded the alert near Bangor, Wales, is thought to be a Beechcraft T-6 Texan II, which is a military plane. It now appears to be at RAF Valley Anglesey Airport, a flying training school.

The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine jet typically used to train pilots. As of 2016, the UK has 10 of these aircraft.

Manufactured by Beechcroft and Textron Aviation, the model’s first flight was on July 15, 1998.

Its primary users are understood to be the United States Air Force, United States Navy, Royan Canadian Air Force, and Hellenic Air Force.

Express.co.uk has approached the Ministry of Defence and RAF Valley Anglesey Airport for comment on the 7500 Squawk issue.

READ MORE: Eurofighter Typhoons break sound barrier over Bristol Channel

Other notable squawk codes, which always begin with a number between zero and seven, include a squawk 7700.

Boeing 757/767 pilot Captain Ken Hoke told Flightradar24: “If a crew resets their transponder to the emergency code of 7700 (squawking 7700), all air traffic control facilities in the area are immediately alerted that the aircraft has an emergency situation.

“It’s up to the crew to let ATC know what the exact situation is.

“It may be an aircraft problem, medical issue, or something else.”

On Thursday, a Tui Airlines flight from West Africa to Bristol transmitted the alert while flying northwest of Gloucester before diverting its route to Birmingham Airport.

The flight departed Sal International Airport, the main international airport of Cape Verde, at 11.19pm (UTC) after being delayed from its initial departure time of 7.55pm (UTC).

Flight-tracking data showed the BY245 descended to 800ft before immediately ascending again and making its way to its updated destination. According to passengers, though, the aircraft touched down on the runway before flying off again.

Passenger Rachel Lewis, from Devon, said: “We absolutely bounced off the runway back into the sky, causing a system error.”

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Once landed in Birmingham, inspections were carried out to determine whether the aircraft could fly back to Bristol.

After a two-hour wait onboard, travellers were finally told to collect their bags and driven down the M5 to Bristol by coach.

The incident followed weeks of travel chaos across UK airports, with several major airlines seeing hundreds of flights affected.

On Friday, an estimated 10,000 EasyJet passengers had their flights cancelled to, from or within the UK – an ordeal linked to post-pandemic staff shortages.

London Gatwick airport is worst affected, with more than 40 flights so far grounded and others severely delayed.

The company announced late on Monday that it would be cancelling at least 30 flights a day in the coming weeks because of a lack of employees.

It is also warning passengers on most flights that no food may be available on board.

John Holland-Kaye, the boss of Heathrow Airport, has warned passengers could face another 18 months of travel disruptions.

He told a Financial Times conference it would take between a year and a year and a half for the industry to fully recover capacity after it cut tens of thousands of jobs during Covid.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, airports and airlines across Great Britain employed around 140,000 people, according to Airlines UK.





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