Airliner scare near NATO summit

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- A Sudan Air flight flying on a regularly authorised path from Cairo to Paris was intercepted by two Italian fighter jets after it failed to respond to calls by civil air traffic controllers in Rome, Italian air force officials said.

The fighter jets accompanied the plane until it left Italian airspace.

Security over Italian skies was especially tight on Tuesday because of the meeting of NATO leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The incident took place at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) as the Sudanese Airbus 320 was flying over the island of Ponza, just southwest of Rome.

The two Italian jets flagged the jet and made themselves recognisable to the pilots of the Sudan Air jet, which was then accompanied out of Italian and into French airspace.

Authorities do not believe the Sudan Air jet posed any threat, saying it appeared the radio may not have been working.