Georgian An-12 Aircraft forced to land at Jaipur by IAF interceptors

New Delhi, May 10, 2019:

In a threat building incident to the security, an unknown aircraft entered Indian Air Space in North Gujarat Sector at 3:15 pm with its IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) ‘on’.

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 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.

On visual contact, the aircraft was identified as Georgian An-12 flying at twenty-seven thousand feet. It neither responded on international distress frequency nor to visual signals during interception. However, when challenged, it 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.