OREANDA-NEWS  A Swiss airline plane flying from Stockholm to Zurich has sent a distress signal in the skies over Germany, according to the Flightradar24 service.

"A plane flying from Stockholm to Zurich has sent a distress signal 7700. It is declining in the Hamburg area," the publication says.

The plane took off from Stockholm on Tuesday at 6.26 local time (7.26 Moscow time) en route to Zurich. However, the aircraft later issued a Squawk 7700 signal, signifying a "general emergency."

The 7700 code is a universal transponder code that pilots install in case of a general emergency on board. However, it is not necessarily associated with an immediate threat of disaster.