Russian Plane Raises Eyebrows

Erika Gibson
News24, SA
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Pretoria (South Africa):
The police and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were investigating the mysterious presence of an old Russian aircraft that seems to have sneaked into the country unannounced and undetected and has been sitting at an airfield near Johannesburg ever since.
The police's border control unit confiscated the aircraft at the Bapsfontein airfield. It was sealed off until more information could be obtained.
Superintendent Frans Kloppers, provincial chief of this department, on Tuesday said the investigation would determine whether the aircraft was in legally the country. The control tower at Johannesburg International Airport informed the police about a suspicious aircraft in the country.No record of the aircraft's entry into the country could be traced since it had landed at the airfield two weeks ago.
The ancient Antonov 2 attracted attention when it filed a flight plan from Richard's Bay to Bapsfontein.The two pilots returned to Russia shortly after landing with only one passenger on board. The aircraft was apparently registered in Lesotho, but the owner lived in South Africa. The owner was at present also in Russia.
According to Kloppers investigators were waiting for his return so that he could hand in the necessary documents regarding the aircraft's presence in the country.Kloppers said the CAA would investigate whether the aircraft was fit to fly in South Africa's air space.The air space authority apparently also had no record of when the aricraft entered the country.
Oct 25, 2005