A Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London lost contact with air traffic control over Romania after its crew mistakenly responded to an instruction issued to another aircraft and switched to the wrong radio frequency, according to an investigation.
The Civil Aviation Department said on Friday (Aug 14) that it had completed its review of Cathay's investigation into the incident involving flight CX257 on July 4.
The investigation found that the aircraft's communication equipment was functioning normally. The crew mistakenly responded to an air traffic control instruction issued to another flight and subsequently tuned the radio to an incorrect frequency.
The crew also failed to notice that communications with air traffic control had been interrupted.
The communication failure triggered an interception procedure, with NATO fighter jets scrambled to intercept the aircraft. Communications were later restored and the flight continued to London as planned.
The Civil Aviation Department said it was highly concerned about the incident and had required Cathay to implement improvement measures, including additional training and assessments for the crew involved.
Cathay has also strengthened procedures for operating and monitoring communication systems during flights and enhanced its aviation safety incident reporting mechanism.
The airline implemented the measures in mid-July, while the Civil Aviation Department said it would continue to monitor their effectiveness.
Cathay previously said the aircraft remained on its approved route throughout the incident and that the safety of the aircraft and everyone on board was not compromised.
