What could a fighter jet do if a plane goes rogue in a terrorism situation. Surely they can’t push the plane in a certain direction to prevent them causing harm the plane is too big and that’s a recipe for disaster all round. Shooting the plane down has its own complications especially if flying over populated area.
What could they actually do in a code red situation?
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The mission set you’re referring to is [OP NOBLE EAGLE](https://shorturl.at/CELP5).
Everybody is talking about shoot down authority, but there’s a lot more a pilot can do before it gets to that situation, like visually confirming what’s going on through aircraft windows, etc. Interceptors have been used in the past when aircraft have become unresponsive and were able to report back visual indications of cabin depressurization, etc.
The stolen Q400 at SEATAC in 2018 is a good example of a scramble in support of this mission. [Many people reported sonic booms](https://theaviationist.com/2018/08/11/f-15cs-intercept-stolen-dash-8-airliner-out-of-seattle-tacoma-airport-before-crash/) caused by the ANG F-15C’s breaking the sound barrier en route to the incident. That’s virtually unheard of anywhere but specifically authorized air space, and would have required very high-level authorization due to the risk of A LOT of property damage. Also look at the pictures of the jets in that article – Those F-15s are carrying live missiles. Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, most jets don’t just sit around fully armed and ready for a shooting war at the drop of a hat. Flying armed with live missiles in peacetime is a really, really big deal.
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