2 Aussies Shut Down Singapore Airspace for 50 Minutes, 2 F-16s Scrambled to Intercept
 

Funny how this story is not reported in D & G Reporting Points; too embarrassed about their own perhaps?

Even the Australian press have a report on it here.

The pilot was not named. But can it be that one of the 2 owners, a Rhys Thomas, ex Ansett Airlines pilot, had no clue about filing flight plans and that sort of bothersome administrative details when crossing international boundaries?

Of course the Singapore press have the story here.

Jan 24, 2008

AIRSPACE SHUTDOWN

Two Aussies helping with police probe

By David Boey

A SMALL Australian-registered plane caused the 50-minute lockdown of Singapore's airspace to commercial planes on Tuesday evening.

Two Australians, the only people on board the Cessna 208 Caravan float plane - which can land on water - are now assisting in a police probe.

The security alert they caused between 7.10pm and 8pm - which led to two twin-seater F16D fighter jets being scrambled - occurred during Changi Airport's busiest period.

There are about 30 to 40 aircraft movements an hour at the airport from 7pm to midnight each day.

Aviation officials estimated yesterday that the lockdown led to thousands of dollars in fuel being lost as 16 airliners circled Singapore while awaiting permission to land.

For BI 423, an inbound Royal Brunei flight from Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, the situation grew serious after it ran low on fuel, and it had to land at Senai airport in Johor.

It flew to Singapore 1-3/4 hours later. Six departing flights were also delayed.

The Straits Times understands that in Tuesday's incident, the single-engine turboprop float plane began its flight from Thailand's Koh Samui island, famed for its fine beaches.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Air Defence and Operations Command tracked the small plane as it flew towards Singapore, and it was quickly established that the Caravan did not have an approved flight plan - a 'red flag', especially since the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

At 6.42pm, a pair of missile-armed F16D jets, which also have 20mm guns, thundered off from an air base.

They quickly spotted the Caravan with its massive floats - pontoons mounted beneath the fuselage - and signalled it to land at Changi Airport's central runway just before 8pm. Airport police immediately surrounded the plane.

A Straits Times check showed that the plane was bought this month by Ms Mary Cummins, who co-owns a tourist adventure flight company with Mr Rhys Thomas, a former pilot with Australian airline Ansett.

The company is based at Broome Airport in Western Australia. Ms Cummins and Mr Thomas could not be reached.

The plane, which can carry about a dozen people, had previously been flown by an airline in Koh Samui.

The Singapore Police Force said yesterday that 'two foreigners' who were in the plane are assisting with investigations.

The last time the RSAF was reported to have scrambled its jets was in August 2003 - when two Super Skyhawk warplanes intercepted a civilian plane that tried to land at Tengah Air Base.

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I was there to witness..
 

I happened to be plane spotting on that day and noticed the airport was extremely quiet during the busiest period. In fact, 4 F-16s were deployed. One on its tail, the other slightly ahead and another 2 circling the airport. They continued to circle the airport for the next 15mins after the Cessna Caravan landed. It landed on 02C and parked at Bay 404.

Apparently, they had no flight plan. It was spotted at the North Eastern part of Singapore. Also, it was heard that they were not contactable initially as the ATCs were trying to ident the aircraft flying.

Cute Plane though...
 

I saw the floatplane and twas a beautiful sight surrounded by BIG jets at Changi...haha!:O

nice story :) kinda funny imagining how it happened..

SAF finally get to see "action"..... wonder when will be send up the F-15's :}

Why are we not surprised....?
 

Many of these ex-Ansett folks had no clue, from a long time ago...:ugh:

Did the SAF scramble its fighters from their bases in Australia, where the SAF keep 90% of its military hardware?

How ironic that they take the p1ss outta the Australians, when they are trained, housed and looked after down under.

having spent many a year flying with the ex-SAF F16 guys (occupying the RHS of an Airbus) I can honestly say what a hopeless lot they were. Im sure they would be hard pushed to recognise a C206 let alone intercept one :E

If you wanted to close down your country's airspace including your biggest international airport just because a useless VFR guy trying to enter it, it would be a little quiet from time to time in other civilized countries as well...

Dani

I remember a bush pilot's first call to Victoria International tower in Canada being: "Victoria tower. This is xxxx short final for 09."

I would like to think National Security is paramount. Be it a VFR aircraft or whatsoever. You can't leave it to chances, because if you do then the nation will put itself at risk.

It's so typical Singaporean making a big deal out of nothing. :rolleyes:

sia r-sniffer
 

No. Even an idiot would know that an F16 does not have the range to reach Singapore from Australia on intercept missions. 90% of SAF assets are in Arstralia? You must really be talking out of your arse.

Yeah, I'm sure they saw on their super special radar the rego of the intruder and said to themselves, hmm, now shall we take the p1ss out of that Arstralian aircraft by intercepting it? And do you suppose the Arstralians look after them for free because they are refugees or in return for lots and lots of money?

They may or may not be able to recognise a C208 C-A-R-A-V-A-N. But you sure got it mixed up by calling it a C206. Now, who is it that has bad eyesight here?

Apparently they had a huge shipment of contraband on board, so didn't
flight plan. The aircraft was overgross with chewing gum packets.

These two jokers flying without flight plans remind of the time when so many Ozzies were out of work, courtesy of Sir Peter Ables and his clan. SIA was one of the many airlines which stepped up and gave them jobs. Having never flown out of Roo-land, it was hilarious watching them shell-shocked after a few flights into Europe, " hand on cock, mind in China."

Rhys Thomas huh? I should duck into Singas and argue he
should get a couple of dozen strokes of the cane on top of a
10 year stint in Changi prison. Hope the event causes his
final downfall. :D

Hope they have extradition back to thailand!
Seems like every rule in the book was broken ex Thailand.
No Flight Plan.
No customs clearance.
No immigration clearance.
No speak on the radio apart from from advising Koh Samui initially of a 1 hr jolly!
This guy deserves all he gets.

NB Consider the surviving members of those kids in South Africa he sent to their deaths.

Interesting. not the photo but the fact it was on a "test flight" but ended up 1000 km away!!

This guy is not what all appears.

Check his AOC - kimberley seaplanes on the CASA website.

Has been operating illegally in australia for a long time!

Float Alighting Gear - NOT permitted
Amphibious operations - NOT Permitted.

Hmmm.

:= very bad boy!

Strikes a chord with a certain C-172 flying from Germany to the red square in Moscow? Or a C-152 (or was it a C-150) flying over the White House?????

I may be a little rusty in geography, but between Koh Samui and Singapore there is a whole chunk of Malaysia.

If they didn't have a flight plan, what was the Malaysian air force doing when the aircraft crossed the Thai-Malaysia border?

Civilian plane was no defence threat: M'sia
 

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia:

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.