The Georgian aircraft was forced to land at Jaipur airfield. (Photo: Ani twitter) New Delhi: An-12 aircraft of Georgia was intercepted by the Indian Air Force after it entered Indian air space from Pakistan, deviating from its flight path, official sources said. The aircraft was forced to land at Jaipur airfield by air defence aircraft of the IAF, they said. #WATCH: Indian Air Force fighter jets force an Antonov AN-12 heavy cargo plane coming from Pakistani Air space to land at Jaipur airport. Questioning of pilots on. pic.twitter.com/esuGbtu9Tl — ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2019 The An-12 aircraft of Georgia, after getting airborne for Delhi from Karachi, deviated from its scheduled flight path and entered Indian air space from an unscheduled point in North Gujarat, the sources said.<doc-sep>NEW DELHI : Indian Air Force fighter jets on Friday forced an Antonov An-12 heavy cargo plane coming from Pakistan to land at Jaipur after the aircraft deviated from its original flight path and entered Indian air space from an undesignated point, a person familiar with the developments said. The cargo flight from Georgia was on its way to New Delhi from Karachi but was intercepted by Indian Air Force Sukhoi jets, the person cited above said. The Georgian aircraft “entered Indian air space from an unscheduled point in North Gujarat. The aircraft was successfully intercepted by highly alert IAF Air Defence aircraft and was forced to land at Jaipur airfield," the person cited above said. A statement from the Indian defence ministry said the Antonov aircraft “did not follow the authorized Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and was not responding to radio calls from Indian controlling agencies." #WATCH: Indian Air Force fighter jets force an Antonov AN-12 heavy cargo plane coming from Pakistani Air space to land at Jaipur airport. Questioning of pilots on. pic.twitter.com/esuGbtu9Tl — ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2019 Indian Air Force fighter jets on Friday forced an Antonov An-12 heavy cargo plane coming from Pakistan to land at Jaipur after the aircraft deviated from its original flight path and entered Indian air space from an undesignated point, a person familiar with the developments said. The cargo flight from Georgia was on its way to New Delhi from Karachi but was intercepted by Indian Air Force Sukhoi jets, the person cited above said. The Georgian aircraft “entered Indian air space from an unscheduled point in North Gujarat. The aircraft was successfully intercepted by highly alert IAF Air Defence aircraft and was forced to land at Jaipur airfield," the person cited above said. A statement from the Indian defence ministry said the Antonov aircraft “did not follow the authorized Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and was not responding to radio calls from Indian controlling agencies." “Since ATS routes in the area were closed due to the current geopolitical situation, and the aircraft entered Indian Air Space from an unscheduled point, the Air Defence interceptor on operational readiness was scrambled," the statement said. The reference to “geopolitical situation" was to the tensions between India and Pakistan following the 14 February Pulwama attack. India bombed a terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot area on 26 February and in retaliation Pakistan launched an aerial raid on India on 27 February, targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir. India which had placed its air force on high alert since 26 February, intercepted the Pakistani Air Force jets and prevented any damage to the military installations in Kashmir. According to Indian officials, the Indian Air Force continues to be in a state of high alert since then. According to news reports Pakistan has not fully re-opened its air space after the Indian raid on Balakot. On Friday, when the Georgian air craft came within visual contact, “the aircraft was identified as Georgian An-12 flying at 27,000 feet." It “neither responded on international distress frequency nor to visual signals during interception. However, when challenged, the aircraft responded and informed that it was a non scheduled An-12 aircraft that had got airborne from Tbilisi (Georgia) for Delhi via Karachi. The aircraft was shadowed and forced to land at Jaipur for necessary investigation," the Indian statement said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now! ! Topics<doc-sep>Key Highlights IAF fighter jets intercepted the cargo plane after it diverted from its scheduled flight path and entered Indian airspace from unscheduled point in Gujarat IAF scrambled two Sukhoi-30MKI fighters after the commercial aircraft was detected crossing over into Indian airspace NEW DELHI: India scrambled fighters to force an Antonov AN-12 commercial cargo aircraft of Georgia to land at the Jaipur airport after it diverted from its scheduled flight path from Pakistan and entered Indian airspace in north Gujarat on Friday afternoon. “The AN-12 aircraft, which had got airborne from Tbilisi in Georgia for Delhi via Karachi, was forced to land at Jaipur at 4.30 pm. Intelligence Bureau, CISF and local police officials are questioning the two pilots and six others on board the aircraft as well as inspecting the cargo to ascertain more details,” said an official. Flying cargo for an aircraft engine-manufacturing company called Motor Sich based in Ukraine, the AN-12 entered Indian airspace north of Nalia at about 3.15 pm from a route closed for air traffic by Pakistan ever since the Balakot air strikes on February 26. “Though the aircraft had its IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) transponder switched ‘on’ as per procedure, it did not follow the authorized Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and entered Indian airspace from an unscheduled point. It was also not responding to radio calls from Indian controlling agencies,” said an IAF official. The IAF then swiftly scrambled two fully-armed Sukhoi-30MKI fighters from Jodhpur to intercept the plane, even as the entire air defence network with missiles and guns was activated in north India, including in New Delhi. “On visual contact, the aircraft was identified as a Georgian AN-12, flying at 27,000-feet,” he said. The AN-12 did not initially respond on the international distress frequency, nor to visual signals during the interception by the Sukhois. But when it was challenged with “an offensive posture” by the fighters, the AN-12 informed it was “a non-scheduled aircraft” that had got airborne from Tbilisi for Delhi via Karachi. “The aircraft was shadowed and forced to land at Jaipur for necessary investigation,” said the official. "Nothing suspicious was found in the investigation. The plane has been released," Jaipur Additional Police Commissioner Laxman Gaur told PTI.<doc-sep>
The pilots of the Georgia aircraft are being questioned, say sources. Highlights The aircraft did not follow the authorised Air Traffic Services route The incident is not being seen as a major crisis The pilots and crew are being questioned, sources said Indian Air Force fighter jets on Friday forced a Georgian An-12 aircraft from Tbilisi to Delhi via Karachi to land at the Jaipur airport over violation of air space. The plane was released after a few hours. The aircraft deviated from its scheduled flight path and entered Indian Air Space at 3:15 pm from an unscheduled point in north Gujarat. News agency ANI, quoting sources, reported the cargo plane entered the Indian air space around 70 kilometres north of an important air base in the Rann of Kutch, which is closed for civilian air traffic. "The aircraft did not follow the authorized Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and was not responding to Radio calls from Indian controlling agencies. Since ATS routes in the area were closed due to the current geopolitical situation, and the aircraft entered Indian Air Space from an unscheduled point, the Air Defence interceptor on operational readiness was scrambled and vectored towards the unknown aircraft for investigation," the government said in a statement. The aircraft neither responded on international distress frequency nor to visual signals during interception, the government added. It was spotted flying by two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets at an altitude of 27,000 feet. "When challenged, the aircraft responded and informed that it was a non-scheduled An-12 aircraft that had got airborne from Tbilisi (Georgia) for Delhi via Karachi. The aircraft was shadowed and forced to land at Jaipur for necessary investigation," the statement said. Sources said the pilots and crew were questioned. ANI, quoting sources, said the cargo plane was being leased by a Ukrainian engine manufacturer ''MotorSich''. This was an expected flight on a scheduled route and is not being seen as a major crisis. "It wasn't a serious violation, it's been released," Jaipur Additional Commissioner of Police told ANI. Months after tensions between India and Pakistan peaked and they engaged in an aerial dogfight at the Line of Control, the IAF scrambled its fighter jets the moment the aircraft was detected. Hundreds of commercial and cargo flights have been affected by continuing tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot air strikes. Restrictions over Pakistani airspace have forced international airlines including those from India to take costly and lengthy detours. The Antonov An-12, which was forced to land on Friday, is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union and is very popular with cargo operators. With inputs from ANI