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 North West 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 North East. The FA-50s flew at the maximum allowable speed towards the direction of the unknown aircraft. At about 4 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.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
