Military jets were scrambled to escort a passenger plane which was forced to make an emergency landing at Prestwick Airport.
The RAF said the Typhoon jets were sent at "supersonic speed" in reaction to an "unresponsive civilian aircraft".
The alert was raised when the plane lost communications at around 2.40pm on Friday.
The Typhoons escorted the aircraft to the Ayrshire airport, which declared a full emergency response with police closing surrounding roads.
The plane, which is understood to have been en route to Iceland, landed safely and an investigation is being carried out into the loss of communications.
Members of the public reported hearing a sonic boom as the jets passed overhead.
The roads surrounding the airport were later reopened.
An RAF spokesman said: "Quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft were launched today from RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth to identify an unresponsive civilian aircraft.
"The Typhoon aircraft were authorised to transit at supersonic speed for operational reasons, any inconvenience caused to local residents is regretted.
"Communications were re-established and the aircraft has been safely escorted by the Lossiemouth aircraft to Prestwick Airport."
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "An aircraft has been escorted to Glasgow Prestwick at around 2.40pm following reports of a temporary loss of communications.
"A full emergency response has been put into action the airport and the aircraft landed safely at 3.57pm.
"The emergency services are still in attendance to establish the full circumstances."
Police said the plane was an Airbus A320 travelling from Toulouse, France, to Keflavik in Iceland.
The spokeswoman added: "There were seven crew on board. The flight landed safely, was met by emergency services and the crew liaised with officers from Police Scotland.
"The incident has now been stood down and the airfield and roads are reopened, with the airport returning to business as usual."
The plane is branded with the insignia of Mexican airline Volaris and is understood to have been a factory flight with no passengers on board.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Prestwick Airport said the seven people on board were engineers and crew.
She added: "Once the aircraft was guided in safely and the police had spoken with the crew to establish the circumstances around the loss of communications and were satisfied that there was no safety risks, the airfield and roads were reopened and the airport returned to business as usual.
"This incident was handled by Police Scotland and was formally stood down at 5.40pm.
"Glasgow Prestwick Airport works closely with Police Scotland and other partners to prepare plans for incidents and we regularly test these to ensure our readiness.
"This plan was put into action and we are pleased with the way in which all agencies worked together to ensure the safety of our staff, passengers and the public, and - once it was confirmed that there was no risk to people's safety - to return the airport to business as usual as soon as possible."
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