UAE plane carrying arms detained, permitted to fly later

[RPK]

fullstory

Kolkata, Sept 7 (PTI) An aircraft belonging to the United Arab Emirates Air Force was found carrying a large cache of arms and ammunition and detained along with its nine crew members in this east Indian city Sunday night.

The plane, bound for Hanyang in China from Abu Dhabi, landed at the NSC Bose International airport here for refuelling Sunday night.

Airport sources said that while customary checking of the plane by customs officials it was found that a large cache of arms and ammunition were stockpiled inside the flight.

The airport authority of India was informed and as the plane's crew did not inform the authorities here that the aircraft was carrying arms, its return flight order was cancelled and nine crew members were detained.

 

[LCA Tejas]

fullstory

Kolkata, Sept 7 (PTI) An aircraft belonging to the United Arab Emirates Air Force was found carrying a large cache of arms and ammunition and detained along with its nine crew members in this east Indian city Sunday night.

The plane, bound for Hanyang in China from Abu Dhabi, landed at the NSC Bose International airport here for refuelling Sunday night.

Airport sources said that while customary checking of the plane by customs officials it was found that a large cache of arms and ammunition were stockpiled inside the flight.

The airport authority of India was informed and as the plane's crew did not inform the authorities here that the aircraft was carrying arms, its return flight order was cancelled and nine crew members were detained.

Thats good, what were on their minds when They came into Indian airspace,that we will not trace it out or something? Well Now they will have to Go through all the formalities ..... well Hope alls well

 

[RPK]

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Arms plane held in city

Calcutta, Sept. 6: A plane belonging to the United Arab Emirates’ air force and its nine crew members were detained in Calcutta airport this evening for allegedly carrying arms and explosives in violation of a declaration that allowed them to land for refuelling in the city.

The aircraft was on its way to Hanyang in China from Abu Dhabi and had landed at Calcutta airport to refuel around 5.30pm.

Customs sources said the eastern regional command of the Indian Air Force had allowed the aircraft to land on the basis of a clearance (AOR 913/914) it received from the Delhi regional command.

Around 6.30pm, customs officials from Calcutta airport boarded the aircraft for a customary check.

“They were shocked to find a large cache of arms, ammunition and explosives inside the aircraft and immediately informed the Airports Authority of India, police and the Central Industrial Security Force,” a customs official told The Telegraph.

The Delhi regional command clarified on enquiry that it had issued the clearance to land for refuelling on the basis of a verbal declaration from the UAE air force that the aircraft would not carry any arms or ammunition.

The captain and the eight other crew members were detained and accommodated at a private luxury hotel off EM Bypass. The aircraft was sealed and parked at a bay near hangar number 14 of the airport, another customs official said.

At 11.30pm, the Indian Air Force cancelled the clearance it had issued to the aircraft.

Hanyang, the apparent destination of the plane, was one of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in China. The city is known for Hanyang Arsenal which produces the Hanyang rifle — an indigenous copy of the 1888 German weapon heavily used in the Second World War and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Legal proceedings against the UAE crew are scheduled to start from Monday. If the authorities press charges, the aircraft and crew will have to stay in the city till the process is completed.

However, on June 19, a Ukrainian aircraft, hired by the US military and carrying arms from Diego Garcia to Afghanistan, was allowed to leave after it intruded into Indian airspace and was forced to land in Mumbai.

The AN-124 was allowed to leave after the US embassy stepped in and senior diplomats got in touch with the external affairs ministry, saying that the intrusion was an inadvertent mistake, a source had said in June.

 

[xebex]

So UAE too get owned. what they were thinking, i mean its the second or third time such kind of incidents happening. Last time it was Russian aircraft then comes North Korean ship....hmm....any updates on this report.

Next time they will think twice before entering India.

 

[TaimiKhan]

Well it most probably is the LD-2000 CIWS, which if you guys remember was recently reported in an article to have undergone a test in the UAE for a possible sale. Summer is just getting ended and it must have completed its trials and now may have been getting transferred back to China.

 

[indian_]

The following is taken from Times Now TV

Mystery plane carrying US arms for China?
The mystery surrounding the arms-laden UAE Air Force plane that was grounded in Kolkata has deepened. Highly placed intelligence sources have told TIMES NOW that the plane could have been on an espionage mission to China. Sources close to the investigations claim that the plane was carrying combat arms of the United States for possibly non-state actors in China's troubled Xingxiang province.

Though the plane was finally allowed to take off today after being detained at the Kolkata Airport for over nearly a week, its cargo has raised a number of eyebrows.

Defence and intelligence investigators probing the case say the US cargo was possibly being channelised to China from UAE and Egypt without US authorisation.

This explains the concern of the Indian authorities and the silence on the part of the UAE government.

UAE authorities had applied to get the plane released only on Wednesday evening and the plane was allowed to take off at 9.30 am today for China's Xiangyang province.

The C-130 was detained by customs officers during a technical halt at Kolkata because UAE had not informed about the arms on board.

Unanswered questions

The entire escapade and the speculation the plane was carrying US combat arms poses many unanswered and unexplained questions.

- Why was the UAE airforce plane carrying US 'combat weapons' flying to China?
- Did China know that UAE airforce plane was to land in its territory?
- Were the 'combat arms' being exported to China without US knowledge?
- Were the 'combat weapons' meant for a non-state actor in China?
- Was the plane on an espionage mission into China?

 

[TaimiKhan]

' Chinese non-governmental analysts have also been critical of the way sections of the Indian media sensationalised an incident involving the temporary detention of a plane of the UAE air force at Kolkata [ Images ] earlier this week for not correctly declaring that it was carrying a consignment of arms and ammunition and 'combat missiles' to China.


According to them, these arms and ammunition and missiles, which were manufactured in China, had been sent to Abu Dhabi for displaying in an international exhibition of military equipment and were being taken back to China after the exhibition was over. These analysts have expressed surprise over the manner in which the whole issue was sought to be sensationalised by sections of the Indian media as if it was a sinister development.


The same report stated on this incident as follows: 'Dai Xu, a renowned military expert, said that the actions by Indian authorities violated diplomatic rights as the cargo on board belong to China. Any inspection on board, which may have violated China's property rights and constituted spying on its military secrets, should be approved by both the UAE and China,'it quoted Dai as saying.


An unnamed military source told the Global Times the UAE airplane was on a mission transporting Chinese arms from an arms expo in Abu Dhabi. 'When the airplane stopped in Kolkata on Sunday to refuel, the UAE crew member used the empty cargo certificate it used when it flew to China to carry the weapons at the beginning. '

ASIAN DEFENCE: Chinese military unhappy with Indian media