"The plane was then forced to land escorted by two Sukhoi fighters."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian military (TNI) has again held a foreign commercial plane, a Boeing 737, for traspassing Indonesian airspace.
The country`s Air Force spokesman, Rear Marshal Bambang Samoedro, said to ANTARA seeking confirmation of the incident here on Monday that the plane was caught on the radar passing through the country`s air territory illegally at around 12.00 hours on Monday.
"The plane was then forced to land escorted by two Sukhoi fighters at the Sultan Hasanuddin air base in Makassar (South Sulawesi) for further investigation," he said.
Bambang said based upon initial investigation the plane serves the route between Dili (East Timor) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). "The number of its passengers is still being confirmed as well as its reason for passing through the Indonesian territory," he said.
The TNI before held a Malaysian plane BAE 146-200 for entering the country`s air territory without a permit.
The aircraft that carried 81 people on board including the crew
departed from Dili, East Timor and landed illegally at Juanda airport in Surabaya, East Java, at 12.45 hours.
Bambang said the permit for a foreign plane to fly through the country`s territory is issued by TNI`s intelligence agency BAIS who is still coordinating with the foreign ministry for the immediate issue of permits for the planes.
(T.R018/Uu.H-YH/H-NG/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
