Lifeboat Foundation

A group of security researchers has remotely hacked a Boeing 757 aircraft without the knowledge of the pilots, a US government official has claimed.

Robert Hickey, a Homeland Security cyber investigator, managed to take over the passenger jet on the runway at Atlantic City airport, New Jersey.

A Boeing official has said the test is unlikely to indicate a major threat to airliners, adding: ‘I’m not afraid to fly’.