Israeli plane did not loiter in our airspace, says govt

PUTRAJAYA: In confirming that an Israeli aircraft flew over Malaysian airspace recently, the Transport Ministry also clarified that the aircraft did not record any abnormal flight pattern nor did it “loiter”.

In a statement acknowledging concerns regarding the Israeli registered aircraft traversing Malaysian airspace, the ministry said the civilian aircraft had followed a commercial flight path used by any civilian aircraft overflying Malaysian airspace according to the rules stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The civilian flight took off from Malé, Maldives, bound for Paya Lebar, Singapore, on May 19 at 2.55am, it said.

“Within ICAO rules, Malaysia ensures that overflights are approved based on no reasonable grounds on threats to the safety and security of our sovereignty,” it said in the statement yesterday.

Malaysia is a member of the ICAO.

The ministry said the approval for overflight was granted to the civilian Boeing 737-400 aircraft registered to Israel Aerospace Industries-Elta (IAI-Elta) strictly did not allow for landing or loitering over Malaysian airspace.

“There were no abnormal flight patterns or loitering within Malaysian airspace by the said aircraft,” it added.

The ministry said Malaysian aviation authorities had determined that the aircraft did not return to Malaysian airspace after arriving at its intended destination in Singapore. — Bernama