A military operation to force a private plane to land in Florida was due to language differences, officials say.

Frenchman Jean-Claude Courtois took off in a Cessna 425 aircraft from the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport after being advised through an interpreter not to fly, since communication with the ground would be impossible.

Courtois spoke no English, and refused to speak to air traffic control throughout his flight. He had reportedly become "indignant" after being warned not to fly.

Forty-five minutes into the flight, controllers called on the Federal Aviation Administration to intervene. Two F-15 fighter jets were quickly on the pilot's tail, and he was forced to land in the Everglades, not far from Miami. He was believed to have been en route to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

The French-English divide was not the only mix-up in communications that day, however. Initial reports wrongly suggested that the plane was stolen buy a potential buyer.

There was no theft involved, however, and Courtois was the legitimate owner of the plane.

Though he was questioned by police on his return, he had committed no offense, and was soon released.

As well as the language barrier, anxieties following the recent attempted terrorist attack on a plane headed for Detroit were probably to blame for the overreaction.

"This just got way out of hand," Don Silvernell of the Hernando County Airport told the St Petersburg Times. "Someone heard the words 'airplane' and 'foreign pilot,' and people started jumping to conclusions."

He added that he "felt sorry for the guy," and called the incident "all a misunderstanding."

11 January 2010