PH Air Force Drives Away Unknown Aircraft Off Pangasinan

PHOTO BY Philippine Air Force

The Philippine Air Force said Saturday it drove away an unidentified aircraft that was trying to enter country's airspace from the northwest.

The intruder turned back at around four minutes to intercept by the two FA-50 jets early morning of Thursday, the PAF said in a statement.

A scramble order was issued after the unidentified aircraft was spotted at around 9:36 a.m. Scramble in military speak means quick response to a threat.

The unknown aircraft was at 21,000 feet flying at 265 knots heading North East. It was spotted 120 nautical miles northwest of coastal Bolinao town, the PAF said.

"In the past decades, aircraft flying without clearance would willfully violate the Philippine airspace  knowing that they will not be challenged," it said.

Two FA-50 Aircraft were ordered to intercept an unknown aircraft on 9:36 A.M on 02 September  2021. The Philippine Air Defense Control Center (PADCC), through its radars, detected an unidentified  inbound aircraft in the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone (PADIZ) approximately 120 nautical miles northwest of Bolinao, Pangasinan. The unidentified aircraft was heading towards Philippine  airspace. Coordination with the CAAP classified it to be an unknown track of interest. PADCC issued a "scramble" order to two FA-50 stationed at the Air Defense Alert Center and were  given the mission to intercept the unknown aircraft for visual identification. The unknown aircraft was  at 21,000 feet flying at 265 knots heading northeast. The FA-50s flew at the maximum allowable  speed towards the direction of the unknown aircraft. At about four minutes into the intercept, the  unknown aircraft changed direction towards the north and increased its speed to 400 knots and  headed away from the Philippine airspace. The intercept was terminated at 9:45 a.m.  

In the past decades, aircraft flying without clearance would willfully violate the Philippine airspace  knowing that they will not be challenged; today our airspace is being closely monitored jointly by the  Philippine Air Force and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. 

This story originally appeared on Reportr.world. Minor edits have been made by the SPOT.ph editors.

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Source: Spot PH