Click to play videoMumbai: A Russian cargo aircraft AN-124, which was hired by the US military, triggered panic at the Mumbai airport on Friday night. The plane carrying arms, ammunition and five people onboard was asked to land at the airport after it violated the Indian airspace.
The aircraft took off from Diego Garcia Island – a US military base near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean – and was heading for Kandahar in Afghanistan.
But it entered the Indian airspace at around 2200 hrs IST without having Air Traffic Control permission. The aircraft was forced to land at the Mumbai airport at 2240 hrs IST.
The AN-124 aircraft is used by military to haul cargo and is owned by a Ukraine-based logistics and cargo company. On landing, the Russian crew of the aircraft was immediately taken for questioning by officials of the central investigative agencies and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The questioning of the aircraft crew is on to ascertain the reasons of the airspace violation which swung the security apparatus into emergency mode on Friday night.
PAST CASES
- May 2009 - A B-52 bomber aircraft belonging to the United States violated Pakistan's airspace over the North Waziristan region.
- May 2009 - Authorities in Finland suspected a Swedish military aeroplane of violating its airspace over Lapland.
- April 2009 - The White House was evacuated and locked up after a small single engine plane flew into restricted airspace over the US's Capitol Hill. Interrogations revealed the pilot was experiencing technical problems.
- December 2008 - Shortly after Mumbai terror attacks, Islamabad accused India of violating its airspace. Emergency was declared at all its airbases but later President Zardari dismissed the violation saying the media had hyped the incident.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
