NEW DELHI: The Pakistan air force last month scrambled two F-16 jets to escort a SpiceJet plane flying from Delhi to Kabul till it exited its airspace and entered Afghan airspace because the Pakistani aviation authorities were confused about the schedule commercial flight's call sign.

The scare happened amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan on September 23 when flight SG-2 was flying with over 120 people on board.

The Boeing 737 's call sign "SG" reportedly was misunderstood by Pakistan to be an Indian Army or Air Force aircraft. So they scrambled two F16s. During this time, the SpiceJet pilots told the Pakistan ATC that they were operating a schedule commercial flight from Delhi to Kabul.

Once the PAF jets had the SpiceJet plane in their sights, they could see the aircraft was not a military plane. They reportedly asked the pilots to descend to a lower altitude.

Even after being convinced, the fighter escort for this plane remained till it exited Pakistani airspace and entered Afghan airspace. Since the passengers could see fighter jets flying alongside their plane, there was tension in the cabin. Sources say passengers were asked to pull down the window blinds. Relief came when the plane exited Pakistan airspace and the F16s peeled away.

However, the return Kabul-Delhi flight this aircraft was to operate was delayed by about five hours. All paperwork and route clearances were reiterated with the Pakistani authorities to ensure the same thing didn't happen on the way back. Luckily, the return sector was uneventful.

While SpiceJet, DGCA and other aviation authorities confirmed this scare, none of them offered comments given the sensitivity of the issue.

