'Lone wolf' casually pranked a major city's air traffic control room
April Fool's came very early for one air traffic control centre, after a "lone-wolf" played a prank that could see them face 20 years in prison.
Some mischief-maker from Melbourne, Australia, has been walkie talkie-ing themselves onto the airwaves used by commercial aircraft.
According to the SMH, the unidentified person's series of hoax radio calls citing "engine failure" resulted in one plane aborting a landing -- climbing back to 3800 feet at the behest of the fake traffic controller.
You May Also Like
Looks like the talkie-happy prankster has been really enjoying themselves, too. A joint press release stated an investigation has been launched into a cool 15 incidents of "unauthorised radio transmissions with aircraft," at both the Melbourne and Avalon airports.
The president of Virgin Independent Pilots Australia, John Lyons told Fairfax Media that the cheeky transmissions were cause for concern, with pilots having no way of determining which transmissions coming in are from a legitimate traffic controller.
Lyons said the "engine failure" hoax was most probably carried out with the use of amateur VHF radio equipment -- though he did clarify that for such equipment to work they would need to be "in line of site of the aircraft."
Whoever you are, you have been warned.
