Croatian Rafale intercepts a passenger Boeing broadcasting the hijack code: NATO raised the alarm, Nuremberg closed its airport

Four digits on a transponder - 7500 - and a fighter jet took off. A Croatian Rafale intercepted a Maltese passenger Boeing flying from Greece to Germany after its transponder broadcast the international code for a hijacked aircraft. The interception was ordered by NATO and announced by the Croatian Ministry of Defence.

The Croatian pilot intercepted the Boeing at 11:02 over Korenica, identified it visually and established radio contact with the crew. He then escorted it through the airspace between Rijeka and Delnice until 11:20, when the airliner entered Slovenian airspace.

What code 7500 means

The transponder is the device an aircraft uses to send data for radar identification. Code 7500 is an internationally agreed signal with which the crew warns air traffic control that the aircraft has been hijacked or that someone has unlawfully taken control. Security services treat it as a serious threat - which is why fighter jets scramble. The information reached NATO's command system from Italy, and the order to take off was issued by the Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón, Spain.

The Croatian ministry did not confirm that the aircraft had actually been hijacked, only that it had been flagged as a possible threat because of the code. Neither the flight number nor the reason the code was activated was released.

Nuremberg closed its airport

The route, timing and circumstances match a Corendon Airlines Europe Boeing 737-800 flying from Corfu to Nuremberg as flight XR456. The aircraft landed safely at around 12:16, escorted also by German Eurofighter jets. Nuremberg airport temporarily halted all traffic, several aircraft were diverted to Frankfurt, Memmingen, Stuttgart and Munich, and according to unofficial information, special police units were also sent to the airport.

German police confirmed that after the code was activated, the pilot could not be reached by radio. One of the possibilities investigators are checking is a fault in the cockpit radio equipment. After landing, the aircraft was inspected and police announced there was no danger. Nuremberg airport had had problems the night before too - three pilots independently reported an unidentified object, most likely a drone, which was not found.

Since January 1, 2026, Croatia has guarded its own skies with its Rafales, as part of NATO's integrated air defence system. In Zagreb, the interception was presented as proof of how fast their pilots are. Good. And who would take off if code 7500 lit up over Macedonia?