Italian fighters scrambled over airliner alarm

(ANSA) - Rome, March 22 - A loud bang heard by people in Lombardy and Valle d'Aosta on Thursday was the sonic boom of the supersonic flight of two Italian Air Force Eurofighter jets, military sources told ANSA. The fighters were scrambled to intercept a French airliner that had lost contact with air-traffic controllers, the sources said. The connection with the airliner was restored and the jets returned to base, the sources said.