Civilian plane was no defence threat
By NG CHENG YEE
PETALING JAYA: The civilian plane which flew by Kota Baru and caused the shutdown of Singapore's commercial airspace for 50 minutes on Tuesday, was no threat to Malaysia's defence.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said that was the reason the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) had allowed the plane from the Thai resort island of Koh Samui to enter Malaysian airspace.
"It was just a small plane and we had confirmed that it was no threat to the country's defence," he said after attending the memorial service of Prof Dr Wolfgang Franke here on Saturday.
He said the DCA immediately informed its Singaporean counterpart after getting information from the Thai DCA that the plane was having some problems and needed to be repaired in the island-nation.
It was reported that Singapore scrambled two F-16 fighters to intercept the aircraft, which was illegally heading towards the city-state's airspace.
The incident caused disruption of flights in and out of Changi after it sparked a major security alert.