"The US military plane which was asked to land at around 2.0 pm can not continue its flight before it secures a license to fly in Indonesia`s air zone," Commander of the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airbase Colonel Abu Supri said.
Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Air Force temporarily detained US military aircraft at Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport here on Monday because it had no permit to fly over Indonesia`s air corridors.

Commander of the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airbase Colonel Abu Supri said here on Monday that the presence of the US military aircraft, Dornier 328 series, which took off from Maldives, Sri Lanka, and flew to Singapore, was detected by the military`s radar in Lhokseumawe.

"The US military plane which was asked to land at around 2.0 pm can not continue its flight before it secures a license to fly in Indonesia`s air zone," he said.

He explained that any military aircraft that will pass over the Indonesian air border must have at least two permits namely from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the military headquarters. However, the US military aircraft did not have both licenses.

"The plane that was carrying five crew consisting of three military personnel and two civilians could not resume its flight before both licenses are issued," he said.

Supri also said that the five crew members were also not able to leave the plane before their embassy cleared the required administration.

"We provide an opportunity for the US military aircrew to coordinate with their embassy in settling the needed administrative requirements. If the embassy concerned already secured the administrative requirement, they then can continue their flight," he said.

Supri also added that the Indonesian Air Force did not have to use its jet fighters to force the US aircraft to land at SIM Blang Bintang Airport Aceh Besar district because its pilot informed it was ready to land at the airport.

"We did not need to use our jet fighters. We just asked them to land immediately and they agreed to do that," he said.

Supri also said that one of the crew whose rank is a captain admitted to have wrong flight information from Sri Lanka to Singapore. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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