Govt ponders action against U.S. intrusion of airspace

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday that the government would decide in the next two days whether or not it would file a complaint over the entry of five F-18 Hornet jets into Indonesian airspace.

"All information and evidence over the incident has been provided by the Air Force's National Air Defense Command and indeed we need one or two days more to conclude whether or not the entry of the U.S. jets violated our territorial zone.

"The government is also considering taking diplomatic action because we have to maintain our sovereignty as well as the country's legal system," Susilo told the press on Monday.

Susilo said Navy chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh had said that the U.S. jets had intruded because "the U.S. pilots failed to communicate with local air traffic control, which is the standard operating procedure."

Last Thursday, five U.S. Hornet jets flew above Indonesia's Bawean island in the Java Sea as they escorted a U.S. aircraft carrier, two frigates and a tanker.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said over the weekend that it had notified the Indonesian government about the flights and asserted that the maneuvers were "normal procedures and indeed it is in accordance with international law."

The Hornets were first spotted by a Bouraq airline plane, which immediately contacted air traffic control (ATC) in Surabaya.

National Air Defense Commander Rear Marshall Wresniwiro said regardless of whether the U.S. had notified Indonesia or not, "the U.S. had ignored standard procedures by not contacting the ATC".

"Contacting the local ATC -- in this case the one in Surabaya -- to inform us of the arrival of the U.S. warplanes is standard international procedure to avoid possible incidents with commercial planes," Wresniwiro told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) said the country would likely fail if it filed a protest because "we have yet to determine our sea-lanes".

Hikmahanto, nevertheless, said the country could file a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) because "the entry and maneuver of these jets jeopardized other flights."

"Maybe the ICAO will rule that the entry of these jets without contacting the local ATC might have posed a danger to the Bouraq flight and, of course, there will be serious sanctions that could be imposed on the U.S. pilots."

Hikmahanto asked why the U.S. jets failed to inform the ATC if the flights were "innocent".

"Based on international maritime law, foreign vessels or planes are allowed to pass through a country's territory if they do not have any motives that can harm the country's safety.

"Therefore, during the investigation process, it is very important for Indonesia to ask for clarification about the destination of these planes," he told the Post by telephone.