Originally posted by HyperFocal:
[b]Sat, Jan 26, 2008
The Star
Civilian plane was no defence threat:
M'sia
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia: The civilian plane which flew by Kota Baru
and caused the shutdown of Singapore's commercial airspace for 50
minutes on Tuesday, was no threat to Malaysia's defence.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said that was the
reason the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) had allowed the plane
from the Thai resort island of Koh Samui to enter Malaysian
airspace.
"It was just a small plane and we had confirmed that it was no
threat to the country's defence," he said after attending the
memorial service of Prof Dr Wolfgang Franke here on Saturday.
He said the DCA immediately informed its Singaporean counterpart
after getting information from the Thai DCA that the plane was
having some problems and needed to be repaired in the
island-nation.
It was reported that Singapore scrambled two F-16 fighters to
intercept the aircraft, which was illegally heading towards the
city-state's airspace.
The incident caused disruption of flights in and out of Changi
after it sparked a major security alert.
[/b]
It is good that Singapore reacted and sent the F16s out. You
never know .....a small plane can actually carry a suicide payload
of explosives.
No one gave it permission to fly into Singaporean airspace. I
applaud the defence systems. Kiasuism for the win!
