No loitering by Israeli plane in Malaysian airspace, says transport ministry

The transport ministry today said the Israeli aircraft which recently flew over Malaysian airspace showed no abnormal flight patterns and had not loitered within the country’s airspace.

In a statement acknowledging concerns regarding the Israeli-registered aircraft, the ministry said the civil aircraft had followed a commercial flight path used by any civil aircraft overflying Malaysian airspace according to the rules stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The civilian flight took off from Male, Maldives, bound for Paya Lebar, Singapore, on Wednesday, May 19, at 2.55am, it said.

“Within the ICAO rules, Malaysia ensures that overflights are approved based on no reasonable grounds on threats to the safety and security of our sovereignty,” it said.

Malaysia is a member of ICAO.

The ministry said the approval for the overflight granted to the civilian Boeing 737-400 aircraft registered to Israel Aerospace Industries-Elta (IAI-Elta) did not allow for landing or loitering over Malaysian airspace.

“There were no abnormal flight patterns or loitering within Malaysian airspace by the said aircraft,” it added.

It said Malaysian aviation authorities had determined that the aircraft did not return to Malaysian airspace after arriving at its intended destination in Singapore.