Jakarta Globe, Oct 22, 2014
Personnel from the Indonesian military escort an Australian man from a light aircraft in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Oct. 22. (Antara Photo) |
Jakarta.
Indonesian Air Force officials in North Sulawesi forced a civilian aircraft
flown by two Australian men to land after the plane entered Indonesian airspace
without permission on Wednesday. Pilots Graeme Jacklin and Richard MacLean —
both Australian citizens — have been detained by the Indonesian military.
Indonesian
Air Force spokesman First Air Marshall Hadi Tjahyanto said the Beechcraft
airport was heading to Cebu in the Philippines from Darwin, Australia.
“The
aircraft was detected by the national air commando radar and it violated our
airspace,” Hadi told Indonesian news portal Vivanews.co.
Hadi said
the plane was detected by officers at 8 a.m. on Wednesday while flying over
Manado.
Two Sukhoi
jet fighters were then scrambled to intercept the aircraft.
The
Beechcraft was then forced to land at Manado military air base at 10:30 a.m.
Jakarta time.
“After we
searched them we found out they didn’t have the necessary documentation,” Heru
said, adding that an investigation would continue.
In April
another civilian aircraft was forced to land for entering Indonesian
airspace. Officers arrested the pilot,
65-year-old Heinz Peier, who was on his way to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Peier, a
Swiss national, was released after obtaining the necessary licenses from the
foreign ministry, the transportation ministry and the Indonesian military.
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