Jakarta (Antara Bali) -- Malaysias Sabah Air Aviation has conveyed
an apology to the Indonesian Consulate General in Kinabalu for wrongly
landing its helicopter on Indonesias Sebatik Island, the Foreign Affairs
Ministry said.
"They said the chopper was owned by private company Sabah Air
Aviation. The pilot and the company conveyed their apology to the
Indonesian Consulate General in Kinabalu," Spokesman for the Foreign
Affairs Ministry Arrmanatha Nasir stated here on Tuesday.
Following the incident, the ministry had communicated with Deputy Ambassador of Malaysia to Indonesia Roseli Abdul.
It had expressed concern over the incident wherein a Malaysian
helicopter had landed without permission on a helipad in Indonesias
Sebatik Island in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, on June 28.
The Malaysian diplomat explained that the helicopter had landed on a
helipad in Sebatik Island as the pilot thought it was Malaysian
territory.
The chopper had initially tried to locate a helipad in Malaysias
Sebatik region, but the helipad there was inundated and not visible.
When they realized they had landed on the wrong helipad, they took off immediately.
"Realizing that it was the wrong helipad, they took off immediately.
The helicopter had still been running after landing," he remarked.
Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been aboard
the chopper, heading for a working visit to Sungai Melayu in the
Malaysian part of Sebatik.
In addition, according to information obtained from the Tarakan
Airbase, Malaysian warships had recently been spotted illegally entering
the waters of Ambalat in the district of Nunukan on nine occasions.
They had to be warned before they turned back.
Vice President Jusuf M. Kalla has questioned the incidents of
border violations of the Malaysian warships, which were spotted entering
the Indonesian waters of Ambalat without permission.
"We will certainly question the intentions of the Malaysian
warships, which had been spotted entering the Indonesian waters of
Ambalat illegally. We will submit a protest," Kalla affirmed. (WDY)
Malaysia Apologizes for Chopper`s Mistaken Landing on Indonesia`s Sebatik Island
Rabu, 1 Juli 2015 20:57 WIB