According to information available to AvioRadar, a Piper PA-24 aircraft, registration UR-OTF, entered Croatian airspace on Sunday, 21 July, around 10:50 UTC. The aircraft failed to establish communication with regional flight control. After about ten repeated attempts with no response, two fighter planes from the 191st squadron of the Croatian Air Force’s 91st wing were dispatched to intercept the aircraft. The interception was completed near Slunj. We contacted Croatia Control for further details, and their full response is as follows:
“On 21 July 2024, an aircraft with registration number UR-OTF entered the airspace of the Republic of Croatia at 10:51 UTC at an altitude of 7000 feet. We can confirm that normal two-way radio communication was not established with the pilot despite repeated attempts on several operating frequencies. At present, we do not have verified details about the nature of the problem, but we can confirm that our communication systems on all frequencies were functioning correctly. The aircraft left Croatian airspace at 12:11 UTC, and the MOD, which oversees Croatian airspace in this context, was informed.”
According to the unofficial information available to AvioRadar, the radio station of the aircraft in question was set to the wrong channel, which is why it was not possible to establish communication with the aircraft.
