People on board a flight from Madeira to Birmingham were given a fright when their Monarch airplane was intercepted in mid-air by a French fighter jet.
The incident took place on Monday 12 October. Flight ZB983 from Madeira departed at 10.40.
When it reached French air space, the flight temporarily lost contact with air traffic controllers.
The passengers were unaware of this but were shocked when they spotted a military aircraft in close proximity.
Passenger Caroline Regan, 71, said: "It was terrifying. The plane came right up to the window; it was so close you could see the pilot.
"It seemed to follow us and we all started to panic - everyone on our plane stood up to have a look."
Mr Tony Regan, 70, said: "It's a terrible world at the moment. When I saw the jet I didn't know what to think. I remember thinking about all the stories on the news about planes going down and worried about it being a Russian jet.
"I don't think you can help but fear the worst when this sort of thing happens - we thought it was the Russians straight away. The disaster in Ukraine has been in the news so much I think it's only natural.
"We've been going to Madeira for 19 years, but flying seems to be getting more and more dangerous. We couldn't help but fear the worst, but it didn't help that the pilot didn't clarify what was going on. It was an awful experience."
A Monarch spokesman confirmed a military aircraft was launched following the loss of communication.
He said: "Monarch Airlines can confirm that Flight ZB983 from Funchal to Birmingham on October 12 was out of communication for a very short time while in French airspace.
"As is standard procedure when any loss of contact occurs, military aircraft were launched to intercept the aircraft. Communication with air traffic control had been re-established by the time the intercept occurred.
"The flight continued as planned with the aircraft landing as scheduled."
Comments
So who is responsible if any passenger on the flight gets post traumatic stress disorder ? I am getting PTSD just reading this.