An unusual visitor in Croatian airspace caused a stir yesterday after Croatian air traffic control failed in their attempts to establish communication with the aircraft, which turned out to be an Israeli private jet.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of July, 2019, a private Israeli business jet entered Croatian airspace from the direction of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the intent to cross over to Italy.
''A combat duo of the Croatian Air Force were engaged in the protection and surveillance of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia and successfully intercepted the aircraft,'' they said in a statement.
Based on the commands of the relevant NATO command centre, located in Torrejon, Spain, on Friday, July the 19th, 2019, the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) was engaged in the protection and surveillance of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia.
Despite attempts having been made, Croatian air traffic control unfortunately failed to establish communication and confirm the identity of the aircraft, after which, CAOC TJ, as the supreme commander, engaged military aicraft belonging to the Croatian Airforce for identity verification of what turned out to be an Israeli aircraft.
The aircraft was intercepted over international waters before the border with the Republic of Italy, after which the airforce pilots managed to obtain a positive identification of and then followed the foreign airplane safely out of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia.
Under the approved procedure, the members of the Croatian Airforce who were engaged in the mission landed in Pula, Istria, where they refuelled and prepared for their return to Zagreb.
The whole procedure was carried out in accordance with the procedures for landing at an alternative airport and is the usual procedure in such situations, as was stated by the relevant body.
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