Hungarian armed forces scrambled two Gripen fighters after a stolen Cessna 172 entered restricted airspace near the Paks nuclear plant on 29 August, prompting a military response before the aircraft made a forced landing near Gerjen. No injuries were reported. The light aircraft, taken from Kalocsa Airport, was tracked toward the sensitive site before coming down in a sunflower field and leaving the pilot, a 24-year-old man, in police custody.
The incident is being treated as a police investigation, with authorities examining how the aircraft was removed from the airport and why it headed toward the nuclear facility. Several reports described the pilot as intoxicated, although that detail remains under review. The aircraft was damaged in the landing, while emergency services secured the site after the fighters monitored its track. The Paks area is a restricted zone, with a no-fly perimeter extending several kilometres around Hungary’s only operating nuclear plant.