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Another foreign plane intercepted by RI fighter jets
A Singaporean civilian airplane allegedly flying over Indonesian airspace without proper documentation was intercepted by two Indonesian Air Force fighter jets and forced to land at Supadio Air Force Base in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Tuesday
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Singaporean civilian airplane allegedly flying over Indonesian airspace without proper documentation was intercepted by two Indonesian Air Force fighter jets and forced to land at Supadio Air Force Base in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Tuesday.
The twin-turboprop Beechcraft King Air BE9L with tail number VH-PFK departed from Cebu, the Philippines, en route to Seletar Airport in Singapore, according to the Air Force's official website.
Aircraft with VH prefix are registered in Australia while Singaporean aircraft have a 9V prefix in their registration.
The Air Force detected that the American-made general aviation airplane had entered Indonesian territory without proper documentation from the government and scrambled two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flankers.
The Singaporean plane was intercepted when flying over the South China Sea at an altitude of between 20,000 and 25,000 feet and a speed of between 250 to 350 knots.
It was the second illegal flight intercepted by the Air Force in the past week after an Australian Beechcraft 95 was forced to land at Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Wednesday. The plane was from Darwin, Australia en route to the Philippines.
Tuesday's interception began at 7:56 a.m. when the 1st National Air Defense Sector Command (Kosekhanudnas) at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta detected an aircraft without clearance in the Pontianak area.
Two Sukhois, one piloted by Lt. Col. Tamboto and Capt. Fauzi and the other piloted by Capt. Gusti, were scrambled from Batam, Riau Islands. 'But the chase failed because the targeted plane was already too far away,' the statement on the website read.
At 11:36 a.m., the same plane was detected again by radar, it stated. The two Sukhois took off again from Batam.
'The plane was intercepted in the southern area of the Natuna Islands. After radio contact and visual identification for about 15 minutes, the plane was forced to land at Pontianak and touched down at 1:23 p.m. The pilot was then interrogated by Air Force personnel,' the statement read.
The details of the plane's crew were not mentioned on the website.
Antara news agency, however, reported that there were three people onboard, consisting of Singaporean captain Tan Chin Kian and Chinese trainees Xiang Bohong and Zheng Chen. (nvn)
