Australian plane close to being shot down
Indonesian fighter jet pilots had "locked on" their weapon systems to an Australian light plane on Wednesday before its pilots decided to comply with the order to land, one of the air force pilots has said.
Indonesian pilot Major Wanda Suriansyah was quoted in news portal Tempo.co saying the two Sukhoi fighters had engaged their weapons systems and taken aim at the Australians.
"If there had been a command to shoot, I would immediately have shot it down, but thank God the pilot was apparently scared and decided to land the plane in Manado," Major Wanda said.
The dramatic mid-air chase on Wednesday morning came after radars detected a light plane, flown by Richard Wayne Maclean and Graeme Paul Jacklin, in Indonesian air space without papers or clearance to be there.
They were delivering the plane to its new owner in the Philippines.
Major Wanda said the Sukhoi fighters had scrambled from Makassar in south Sulawesi, before escorting the Australian plane for four hours as it flew over Kupang and Ambon.
He said the first request to land was made as the Beechworth aircraft was over Ambon.
"But some Australians are stubborn so they ignored the request," he said.
Eventually the plane was forced to land in the Sam Ratulangi aiport in Manado. The Air Force base commander, Hesly Paath, also alleged that the Australians originally ignored orders to stop.
Air force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said on Thursday that airport authorities in Manado, where the pilots are being questioned, had on Wednesday night contacted the Australian embassy in Jakarta to ask embassy staff to help the pair obtain the necessary documents.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the embassy in Jakarta was in contact with Indonesian authorities to "seek clarification of the circumstances".
Consular officials had also made contact with the two Australians who were on board the plane to offer consular assistance.
First Marshall Hadi insisted the pilots did not have clearance, and that a legal investigation was nevertheless still under way.
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Violations of Indonesian airspace carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. A group of Australians were locked up under the laws in West Papua in 2009.
Jacklin's brother, Greg, said the experienced pilot was normally "a pretty big stickler with the paperwork".
Greg Jacklin said he had no knowledge of the flight but he could not imagine his brother flying over Indonesia unprepared.
The brothers had spoken briefly by phone on Wednesday night.
Jacklin said his brother was well but they had not discussed events leading up to the plane being forced down.
Pilot Ben Wyndham said he had flown "ferry flights" – in which planes are delivered to purchasers – with Jacklin, and that he was "very meticulous and thorough".
"It must be a mistake, an oversight, a miscommunication," Wyndham said. "This is not something that would happen on a Graeme Jacklin ferry flight."
"I really have no idea about what's happened here, but Graeme would not have put himself in a situation – for him or his client or the aeroplane – where there was any doubt about the outcome."
Another Indonesian spokesman, Major General Fuad Basya, earlier said the two men had refused requests to land and that only "after being forced again and again" did they agree to land at Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado.
Under Article 414 of the 2009 aviation law, violating Indonesian airspace carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a 2 billion rupiah (NZ$223,000) fine.
Maclean and Jacklin remained in custody and were being questioned by airport authorities over the alleged breach.
They were flying a twin engine, propeller-driven Beech aircraft from Darwin to Cebu in the Philippines to deliver it to its new owner after it had been sold.
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