A Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800 transmitted squawk 7500 — the international hijack code — for thirteen minutes during its departure from Corfu on October 13, 2026, before German Air Force Eurofighters escorted it to a closed Nuremberg Airport. The aircraft, registered 9H-CXD and operating flight XR456, landed safely at 12:16 local time, one minute behind schedule, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.

The alert shut Nuremberg completely. Eurocontrol listed the airport as closed until 14:00 UTC, and police cordoned off access roads shortly before the landing. Several incoming flights diverted to Frankfurt, Memmingen, Stuttgart and Munich. The airport initially gave no estimate for a resumption of normal operations.

The transponder signal, according to Flightradar24, was broadcast between 08:15 and 08:28 UTC during departure from the Greek island. An airport spokesperson told Bayerischer Rundfunk that the code had also reportedly been transmitted on approach to Nuremberg. What triggered it remains unexplained.

What did authorities say?

Middle Franconia police confirmed the operation on X. "We received a report of an unclear air emergency," the force wrote, adding that the aircraft had landed safely and that investigations into the cause were underway.

The spokesperson was careful with the framing. "We are working on the assumption of a suspected air emergency, but this is not yet confirmed," the spokesperson said, according to the German newspaper Nordbayern. That distinction — suspected, not confirmed — is the entire story at this stage.

How did the fighters get there so fast?

The German Press Agency reported that Eurofighter jets accompanied the aircraft before landing; an airport spokesperson confirmed their involvement and said the fighters subsequently turned away. The mechanism is routine, if rarely seen by passengers.

The Luftwaffe keeps two armed Eurofighters on Quick Reaction Alert at each of two air policing bases — Wittmund in the north and Neuburg an der Donau in the south. The Bundeswehr requires them airborne within fifteen minutes of an alert to identify, monitor or escort aircraft posing a potential airspace security concern. Nuremberg sits within easy reach of Neuburg.

Was this connected to the overnight drone reports?

Probably not provable, and authorities have not tried. The hijack alert came hours after a separate disruption at the same airport. Between 02:00 and 04:00 local time on October 13, three pilots independently reported an unidentified object during takeoff or landing; police said it could have been a drone.

The response was substantial. The Nuremberg Airport Border Police Inspectorate ran search and detection measures with airport authorities and Deutsche Flugsicherung, and deployed a helicopter. Officers located nothing. Two incoming aircraft diverted to Cologne Bonn and Prague as a precaution before continuing. Six flights were delayed in total — two arrivals, four departures, per the airport's statement.

Police have opened an investigation into the sightings. Authorities have not established any connection between the overnight reports and the later events aboard XR456.

What happens now?

For now, Nuremberg faces the arithmetic of a midday closure: diversions to four airports, a police cordon, and no published reopening time. The investigation into the squawk 7500 transmission — whether human error, technical fault or something else — will determine whether this was an exercise in procedure or a genuine security event. Until then, the escorts turned away, and the questions remain on the ground.