IAF forces Georgian aircraft to land in Jaipur

The Indian Air Force (IAF) forced a Georgian aircraft that entered Indian air space in north Gujarat at 3.15 pm on Friday to land at a Jaipur air base. Two SU-30 fighter planes escorted the Tbilisi-Delhi (via Karachi) An-12.

"The aircraft did not follow the authorised Air Traffic Services (ATS) route and was not responding to radio calls," the IAF said.

Due to the current geopolitical situation in the area, ATS routes are closed and craft entered Indian air space from an unscheduled point. The air defence interceptor on operational readiness was scrambled and vectored towards the unknown aircraft for investigation.

"On visual contact, the aircraft was identified as Georgian An-12 flying at 27,000 feet," IAF said in a statement. The plane neither responded on international distress frequency nor to visual signals during interception. When challenged, it informed that it was a non-scheduled An-12 aircraft that took off from Georgia for Delhi, via Karachi. "The crew members are being questioned," IAF said.