IAF Sukhois intercept Georgian Antonov cargo plane after trespassing into Indian territory from Pakistan

In a major development, the Indian Air Force on Friday intercepted an Antonov-12 cargo plane which entered from an unauthorised air route from Pakistani side and forced it to land at the Jaipur air base. The aircraft carrying spares was forced to land at 4.55 pm in Jaipur and its crew is being questioned by the authorities concerned on the ground, senior government sources told ANI.

The AN-12 entered the Indian air space around 70 kms north of an important air base in the Rann of Kutch from the air space, which is closed for civilian air traffic, sources said. The IAF will send its team from nearby bases to check the cargo contents of the aircraft.

Government sources to ANI: 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. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/YSZZPF9u1D

— ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2019

"Today afternoon one AN-12 aircraft of Georgia after getting airborne for Delhi from Karachi deviated from it's scheduled flight path and 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," IAF spokesperson Gp Capt Anupam Bannerjee said. Sources said as soon as the air force bases detected the aircraft on their radars, they activated two air defence fighters SU-30MKI there.

"The Georgian aircraft was earlier not responding but started descending 60 kms near Jaipur and landed," they said. According to sources, the heavy cargo plane was being leased by a Ukrainian engine manufacturer 'MotorSich'.

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