Having No Clearance, Foreign Plane Shuns Indonesian Airspace
19 October 2018 18:45 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – A Gulfstream jet has shunned the Indonesian airspace, possibly fearing it would be intercepted by the Air Force jet fighters as it was bereft of permit to access the nation's territory.
"The plane fears the Air Force’ preparedness, as shown in the last couple of weeks," said the Air Force's Information Agency chief First Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto.
He said the jet was about to cross over the Indonesian airspace from Singapore to Darwin, Australia. Earlier, the jet asked for consent from the Air Traffic Controller of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, but the pilot failed to show security, flight and diplomatic clearance.
The Air Force then readied its jet fighters in Yogyakarta and Solo to intercept the plane. Hadi said that Indonesian Air Force would have forced the plane to land had it decided to breach into the Indonesian airspace.
In the past two months, the Air Force has forced three foreign planes for having no permit.
INDRA WIJAYA