Serbian fighter jets intercepted a Wizz Air passenger plane flying from Brussels to Sofia today after a report of a bomb on board, Serbia's defence ministry said.
The jets identified the plane by sight and escorted it to the Bulgarian border. They then flew back to their base at Batajnica airport.
At around 10:30am, residents of Šumadija heard loud sounds like explosions. The ministry said a pair of Serbian Armed Forces jets had broken the sound barrier. The ministry and the army said they were sorry for alarming people.
The jets took off after an alert from the Serbia and Montenegro air traffic control (SMATSA). Some air defence units and search and rescue forces were also put on highest combat alert.
The ministry and the army said that in such cases an interception must happen as fast as possible.