Attempt to Attack a Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary Using a Stolen Plane Foiled by Fighter Jets

International Desk

In a sensational incident in Hungary, a man stole a small plane and tried to fly it towards the country’s only nuclear power plant, Paks, prompting the Hungarian military to immediately send fighter jets to thwart the attempt.

A 24-year-old man stole a Cessna 172 aircraft from Kalocsa Airport in southern Hungary and flew it into the sky without permission on Saturday morning. As soon as the plane was detected on military radar, Hungarian Defense Minister Romulus Rusin-Sendy said in a Facebook post that two Gripen fighter jets were immediately dispatched to the scene.

The Paks nuclear power plant is designated as a special protection area, where civil aviation is completely prohibited within a three-kilometer radius of the plant below 6,000 meters. Local media HVG reported that the plane entered the restricted airspace and circled the plant several times, as if in a training exercise, although this information is based on local reports and is not the final result of the accident investigation.

Within minutes of being detected, the plane made an emergency landing in a sunflower field near the village of Geryen. During the landing, the plane’s landing gear broke and it tilted to one side, but the defense minister confirmed that no one was injured.

Gripen fighter jets located the two crashed aircraft and remained in the air until rescue helicopters and ground emergency services arrived. Police and relevant authorities later arrived at the scene and began an investigation.

Police said the man, after landing, continued walking along the road in a disoriented state and attempted to force his way into a car driven by a motorist who had stopped to help, although the driver was able to stop him. Some local reports also said the man was intoxicated.

The defense minister called the incident an “unusual alert,” saying it demonstrated that the Hungarian defense forces were ready to respond immediately at any moment, both in the air and on the ground. The exact cause of the hijacking and the approach to the nuclear power plant are still under investigation.