King Air Aircraft Intercepted by Indonesian Jets
Tuesday, 28th October 2014
The twin-turboprop Beechcraft King Air BE9L with tail number VH-PFK (Australian registered) departed from Cebu, the Philippines, from A Singapore aircraft en route from Sibu (Sarawak) to Seletar Airport in Singapore
Interception began at 7:56 a.m. when the Indonesia 1st National Air Defense Sector Command (Kosekhanudnas) at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta detected an aircraft without clearance in the Pontianak area.
Photo Credit: Flickr.
Two Sukhoi Su-30MK2, one piloted by Lt. Col. Tamboto and Capt. Fauzi and the other piloted by Capt. Gusti, were scrambled from Batam, Riau Islands. “But the chase failed because the targeted plane was too far away,”
Photo Credit: Flickr.
At 11:36 a.m., the same plane was detected again by radar, it stated. The two Sukhois took off again from Batam at 12.23pm flying at very low level over the Batam
The plane was intercepted when flying over the South China Sea, southern area of the Natuna Islands, at an altitude of between 20,000 and 25,000 feet and a speed of between 250 to 350 knots.
After radio contact and visual identification for about 15 minutes, the plane was forced to land at Pontianak and touched down at 1:23 p.m. The pilot and two trainees was then interrogated by Air Force personnel.
TAN Chin Kian (13 Oct 1950), the ST Aerospace Training Academy Instructor, Xiang Bohong Trainee Chinese (7 May 1989) and Zheng Chen Trainee Chinese (1 March 1990).