A British Airways flight was forced to veer off course on landing in Gibraltar by a Spanish air force jet.
Gibraltar’s government said it had launched an investigation after a Spanish military P3 aircraft disturbed the flight path of a BA flight from London Heathrow on Friday afternoon, reports the Telegraph.
Gibraltar Air Traffic Control issued emergency instructions for the BA flight to change course from its landing approach while 10-15 miles out ‘on account of the need to maintain a safe distance between the two aircraft’.
"The issue is believed to have arisen when the Spanish aircraft, which was transiting ahead of the BA flight through the Straits … suddenly reversed its direction and took another course. This would have infringed safety parameters had the BA flight not moved under instructions from Gibraltar ATC," the statement read.
In September the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office launched an investigation into an incident involving two Spanish jets flying close to a commercial airliner as it came in to land on the Rock.
A spokesman from the FCO in London said: "We are aware of the incident on 31st October involving a British Airways commercial flight bound for Gibraltar. The aircraft was asked to divert from its original routing because of the activity of a Spanish military aircraft in the area.
"Air Traffic Control (ATC) were in contact with both aircraft and the British Airways plane diverted in accordance with standard ATC procedures."
