TEMPO.CO, Manado – The Army’s Sukhoi fighter jet has forced Australian plane BV 95 Beechcraft to land at Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado for breaching into the Indonesian territory on Wednesday, October 23, 2014.
Sukhoi pilot Maj. Wanda Suriansyah said he had his missiles locked on the Aussie plane after the latter's pilot declined to land the plane.
"We have locked the plane. If I had had an order, I would have shot the plane. Luckily, the pilot came into senses and landed in Manado," Wanda said on Thursday, October 24, 2014.
The Australian plane, piloted by Jacklyn Grame Paul and Maclean Richard Wayne, was bereft of clearance to enter the Indonesian airspace. The plane landed in Manado after a four-hour escort by the Sukhoi jet.
Wanda said he intercepted the Aussie plane around Makassar airspace and ordered the pilot to bring down his plane in Ambon—the nearest landing zone.
The Australian pilot, however, turned down the call, forcing Wanda to lock his missiles on the plane. "The plane was 250 kilometers east southeast of Manado when I locked it," Wanda said.
ISA ANSHAR JUSUF