MH17 disaster: King and Queen of Netherlands lead day of mourning as plane tragedy victims flown back from Ukraine
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the aircraft were deployed because of a break in radio contact but a spokeswoman stressed there was "no threat".
The runway at the airport was shut for eight minutes before normal operations resumed.
A spokeswoman for air traffic control organisation Nats said: "We couldn't make voice communication with the aircraft which is why it was escorted to Stansted."