The Croatian Ministry of Defence reported that on the 30th of October two Croatian Air Force MIG 21 jets intercepted and identified a British passenger plane that entered Croatia's airspace.
The Boeing 767 of the British company Thomson Airways was en route from Manchester to Heraklion on the island of Crete and was intercepted between 11 am and noon because Italian air officials were unable to establish contact with the plane. Acting on an order from the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) located in Torrejon, Spain, the mission of interception Alpha Scramble took place at an altitude of 12,500 meters, in the airspace above northern Dalmatia.
Radio contact was soon established with the civilian aircraft which continued its journey to Greece, whilst the Croatian jets returned to its base at Zagreb Airport.
The successful implementation of this task demonstrated the rapid transmission of data and commands between operational centres of the NATO member states and rapid response of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence. Once again it confirmed the ability of the Croatian system for control and protection of the airspace as well as all the benefits of participation in an integrated system of air defence of NATO.