The Philippine Air Force (PAF) drove away an unidentified aircraft seen entering the country's airspace without clearance, a ranking military spokesperson revealed Saturday, Sept. 4.
Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano, PAF spokesperson, said two FA-50 fighter jets were ordered to intercept the unknown aircraft which was monitored at 120 nautical miles north west of Bolinao, Pangasinan at 9:36 a.m. of Sept. 2.
Mariano said the Philippine Air Defense Control Center (PADCC) detected the aircraft through its radars, prompting them to coordinate with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to determine if it has clearance to fly over the country's airspace.
"The unidentified aircarft was heading towards the Philippine airspace. Coordination with the CAAP classified it to be an unknown track of interest," the PAF spokesperson said.
The PADCC then issued a "scramble" order to the two FA-50s stationed at the Air Defense Alert Center to intercept and identify the unknown aircraft. In the air force, a scramble order refers to the act of quickly mobilising military aircraft in reaction to an immediate threat, usually a hostile aircraft.
Mariano said the unknown aircraft was at 21,000 feet flying at 265 knots heading north east.
The FA-50s flew towards the direction of the unknown aircraft at a maximum allowable speed. He said about four minutes into the intercept mission, the aircraft "changed direction towards the north," and "increased its speed to 400 knots and headed away from the Philippine airspace."
The intercept mission was terminated at 9:45 a.m. However, the PAF has yet to determine the identity of the aircraft.
"In the past decades, aircraft flying without clearance would willfully violate the Philippine airspace knowing that they will not be challenged; today our airspace is being closely monitored jointly by the Philippine Air Force and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines," Mariano said.