N. Korea Aircraft Makes Emergency Landing At Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport

[lizardofoz]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

Was Nicolas Cage aboard??

[rbrick49]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

Um, yeah, you could say that.

It's approximately 9,200 AK47 rifles (no ammunition).

Or it's about 13,400 RPG rounds (single stage HEAT - 2.6kg each) (no launchers).

Or it's about 5,000 light machine guns ...

Or a combination of various bits and pieces. Enough to outfit a few hundred soldiers perhaps ...

The article talks about HEAVY WEAPONS... what you mention is dinky toys in warfare...

1 tank weighs around 65 tonne

[Scott]

It'd be good if N Korea were involved because Thailand is the only country in the region which provides refugee status to escapees from N Korea, which also means the Thai government/military actively resist pressure from the PRC to capture and return N Korean refugees. N Koreans who escape their hellhole of a country have to travel via an escape network through the PRC and Laos to get to refuge and freedom in Thailand, where they then fly on to Seoul.  

Thailand is not a signatory on the UN Convention on Refugees. They do not provide refugee status for North Koreans.

[lordsux]

A nuclear warhead on board the plane??? Get real.

Noone has claimed that there was a nuclear warhead on the plane - Get glasses

It does make the story a bit more exiting though

[WitawatWatawit]

What do you bet it was really 70 tons?

kissrev1 -- you naughty boy.

[richsilver]

They stopped to re-fuel? I'll bet the crew will really be in hot water when they finally get home. Not a good idea to run out of fuel when you're carrying a sensitive cargo!

[DagonKhan]

Thailand detains plane with weapons cache from N.Korea

(AFP)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities have detained five people who landed in Bangkok in an east European cargo plane full of heavy weapons that originated in North Korea, officials told AFP Saturday.

The plane's pilot requested to land at Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport Saturday morning, said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayakorn, and on inspecting the aircraft Thai officials found the cache.

"An eastern European airline asked to land this morning at Don Mueang airport to refuel its tank. When Thai authorities examined the aircraft they found a lot of weapons and detained up to five people," Panitan said.

He later said the weapons had been transferred to Takhli Air Force base in the central Thai province of Nakhon Sawan.

Lieutenant General Thangai Prasajaksattru, commander of Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau, confirmed that five men from eastern Europe had been detained, but he did not yet know their nationalities.

"There were a lot of weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), missiles and other war weapons," he said.

National television channels reported that four of the detained men are from Kazakhstan and one is from Belarus, and said that US officials had tipped off Thai authorities before they found the cache.

But a spokesman for the US Embassy in Bangkok, Michael Turner, said he was unaware of the incident.

Air Force spokesman Captain Montol Suchookorn and special branch police said that the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang.

"According to my information, the flight originated from North Korea. It was a cargo flight that requested to land at the civilian side of the airport," Montol said, adding that the Air Force was continuing to guard the aircraft.

AOT, Thailand's aviation authority, said Don Mueang airport remained open to passengers.

Link:- http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...ZL_xD_tZkXG0G1w

Edited December 12, 2009 by DagonKhan

[jackspratt]

Another breathless Saturday night breaking report on Thai Visa.

Keeping the curious, the impecunious, the conspiracy nuts and the overstayers (ie all the usual TV suspects) glued to their PC monitors.

Get a life folks

[TBWG]

Wow. I wonder where those weapons were headed for?

Myanmar? (Burma)

TBWG

[Phil Conners]

A nuclear warhead on board the plane??? Get real.

Noone has claimed that there was a nuclear warhead on the plane - Get glasses

It does make the story a bit more exiting though

See post #44:

I heard sri lanka on thai tv too, but I'm not sure perhaps i heard wrong.

I also heard that they got a warning from the US.

35 tonnes is a lot of weapons and i also heard that there was a nuclear warhead on board..but then again its from the same tv channel so im not sure whether i can trust it.

[vahack]

small detail being overlooked: Thai police now have 35 tons of weapons.

[notime]

There has been speculation in the past that N.Korea has been supplying weapons and nuclear know-how to Myanmar.

I think this is a very good tip. It also fits in with the aircraft running out of fuel destined to last to a neighboring country only. I suspect the weapons were from N. Korea heading to Myanmar. They are about to have elections soon and may be purchasing some extra weapons for crowd (population) control. The Belarus/Kazakhstan/Beirut connection may be just cheap labor and a hired old-soviet aircraft. Although the presence of somebody from Beirut may indicate a twist in these calculations. It’s a very interesting story. In any way, not much to do with the Easter Europe as initially reported.

[jensonmcm]

Gotta say. All you Tin Hat Armchair Generals are funny. Thanks for the laugh.

[SabaiBKK]

why was it flying in Thailand you ask? does everyone already forgot that there is an insurgency STILL GOING ON down south and that some influential and rich people, like the one hiding in Dubai, would greatly benefit from the current government not being able do do anything about it (for political and business reasons).

just my way of seeing things from another perspective .....

[PhilHarries]

OK, emergency landing, but if to refuel, then unless they sprung a leak, they were intending to land somewhere very close to Bangkok in the first place ?

Napidaw? (Sp?)

or Yangon.

Or there was no fuel shortage, where for a bunch of Kazakhs would be the ideal place for R&R, sorry of course I mean asylum?

[lordsux]

Anyone seen my glasses?

[Orac]

why was it flying in Thailand you ask? does everyone already forgot that there is an insurgency STILL GOING ON down south and that some influential and rich people, like the one hiding in Dubai, would greatly benefit from the current government not being able do do anything about it (for political and business reasons).

just my way of seeing things from another perspective .....

So instead of looking at the obvious - there is no big secret about North Korea supplying arms to Myanamar, in fact, wasn't a whole boatload of the stuff stopped recently, you are going for it being Thaksin arming the muslim insurgency in the south. Is there no end to this mans evil intents!

[prefabs]

North Korean plane impounded, tons of weapons seized

BANGKOK: -- Five Eastern European men were detained and their plane was impounded and grounded at Don Muang Airport on Saturday after it was found loaded with tons of war weapons.

Government Spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn declined to reveal where the plane was from and its its destination, saying Thai authorities are investigating the five men reportedly from Belarus and Kazakhstan.

A TV footage showed military trucks believed to be loaded with the confiscated weapons left Don Muang Airport. The footage also showed the grounded plane.

Thai TV reported that the weapons were transferred in the military trucks to a depot in Nakhon Sawan.

Panithan said the impound of the plane was the result of cooperation between Thai and foreign intelligence units.

Earlier Deutsche Presse Agentur reported that Thai authorities on Saturday impounded a North Korean airplane that was found to be carrying war weapons, officials confirmed.

The pilot of the airplane had requested an emergency landing at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport to refuel. Authorities impounded the craft and detained four pilots and crew members after finding war weapons on board, according to the officials.

'This action was in keeping with the relevant UN National Security Council resolutions,' Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thani Thingpakdi said.

He added that the matter was now under the supervision of the Thai police who would provide further details later Saturday.

-- The Nation 2009-12-12

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

Nakhon Sawan seems a helluva long way to truck some stuff. Why didn't they just load a few gallons and fly up there?

[SabaiBKK]

don't misread me, genius, i was merely trying to post something different than the 159th post about evil NK supplying weapons to evil Myanmar going over the head of nice and innocent Thais.

[Foggy Bottom]

Think of the geography if this did have NK as a departure point - to have insufficient fuel to continue past Bangkok implies an intended destination close to NK than a range as far as Bangkok - obvious suspects being Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. If that were the case, then finding themselves in Thai airspace would indicate either bad navigation or dodgy avionics on board. If they were coming the other way (from Europe / Asia Minor) then the same surmise would indicate they overflew the destination which leaves the "bad B's" in the frame (Bangladesh & Burma).

The alternative has already been mentioned - leaky fuel tanks, but it could equally as well have been excess headwinds causing fuel to be burned faster, or it may have been that the refuellers treated them like farangs at the departure point and either short-delivered the requested weight of fuel, or again dodgy instrumentation that said the tanks were full when they were not (that last point being far less likely as the gauges on the bowser would double check the volume loaded).

Musing, speculation, and debating any of the above may be fun, but until we know the make and model of aircraft, we don't even know to what capacity of payload the cargo reached, nor the range it could fly - both of which have bearing on the reason it emergency landed. If it's theoretical range, loaded, was significantly farther than Bangkok, then sabotage pre-take-off has to be added to the melting pot. The mention of US intelligence (oxymoron?) tipping off the Thais, also tips a wink towards a possible reason for the descent onto Thai soil ... maybe more so, the more it's thought about with the special military and covert-observers relationship that exists between Thailand and the US.

Foggy

[WISteve]

Reuters is running with the story as well.

"Thai authorities hold crew after arms found on plane

Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:56pm IST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai security forces seized more than 35 tonnes of arms and arrested five crew members after a cargo plane made an emergency landing to refuel at a Bangkok airport on Saturday, officials said.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the arrests were made after the plane had landed at Don Muang airport and "suspicious" cargo was found on board.

"We have detained five crew. But we can't confirm where the plane was heading to. Roughly, the destination is in Asia, probably South Asia, and the plane came from North Asia," he told Reuters.

Monthon Sutchukorn, a deputy spokesman for the Thai air force, said the plane had departed from North Korea but had no further details.

Media reports said the plane had initially sought permission to land at Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi international airport but had been diverted to the capital's second airport, Don Muang.

Local media said four of the crew members were from Kazakhstan and one was from Belarus.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Khettiya Jittapong; Writing by Alan Raybould)

Reuters India

Heading from North Korea to South Asia.

Myanmar certainly comes to mind and it would be consistent with the path taken.

~WISteve

[Pseacraft]

Got to have some fun with this...so many eggsperts. Good thing I slept at a Holiday Inn Express...

South Asia generally means India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, you know the points west of Burma which is by the way considered SEA. A popular Russian made cargo bird is the IL-76 it has a full cargo capacity of ~50 tonnes and a max range at the point of 3650km, oh and a crew of 5-7 persons. According to a popular distance calculation website: The Distance between Bangkok International Airport (,Thailand) [Airport] and Pyongyang (,North Korea) [Airport] is : 3732.84 kilometers (km). Anyone see pictures of the bird in question?

I am willing to wager it was a scheduled stop at Swampy but became an in-flight emergency due to fuel burn issues be it weather, piss poor engine maintenance and/or fuel. These events happen more than you would care to want to know, almost daily where I work. I do not see a conspiracy or a need to blow things into one when the only thing here that is wrong is that violation of the UN Resolution which you all get to hear about being enforced. Happens more than you think but we never see it in the media. This case more so for the good press the government here needs.

Edit to add....BKK is approximately 2/3rds the way between Pyongyang and Columbo, so in my minds eye a natural refueling point.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Pseacraft

[zorro1]

an emergency landing to refuel errrrm, when was the last time any heavy aircraft did that? its not like they look at each other and say " who forget to fill tank"

the whole story is daft

[Publicus]

It'd be good if N Korea were involved because Thailand is the only country in the region which provides refugee status to escapees from N Korea, which also means the Thai government/military actively resist pressure from the PRC to capture and return N Korean refugees. N Koreans who escape their hellhole of a country have to travel via an escape network through the PRC and Laos to get to refuge and freedom in Thailand, where they then fly on to Seoul.  

Thailand is not a signatory on the UN Convention on Refugees. They do not provide refugee status for North Koreans.

It's not the official policy of the Thai government to provide refugee status to refugees from N Korea. However, Thailand is the only country of the region which knows and in fact allows refuge to citizens of N Korea escaping N Korea to Seoul via Bangkok. I'll be back to provide the link.  

[ajarnmark]

Going to Pak? OR Afgan?

or maybe to your country...

Its so funny how some people so ignorant of the political situations around the world...

Afghanistan was infested by US weapons in 80's during so called war against communism. Bin Laden was Fighter of the Year by Times magazine coz he was fighting against USSR with US weapons.

They created a monster and now they cant control it and ignorant people like you pointing fingers towards other countries who are fighting a useless war of US in Afghanistan...

Only if US never attacked Afghanistan, world would have been much better place now... Thanks to new-cons...

[hpwheelman]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

Um, yeah, you could say that.

It's approximately 9,200 AK47 rifles (no ammunition).

Or it's about 13,400 RPG rounds (single stage HEAT - 2.6kg each) (no launchers).

Or it's about 5,000 light machine guns ...

Or a combination of various bits and pieces. Enough to outfit a few hundred soldiers perhaps ...

The article talks about HEAVY WEAPONS... what you mention is dinky toys in warfare...

Yes, but let's not assume they got the description correct. "Heavy" might mean, um... too much for me to carry.

OK, lets end this now. "Heavy" is most likely a misused word by media persons who don't know what they are talking about. They were probably Machine guns such as a .50 caliber or perhaps a 240 machine gun or the older 60. Or other large weapons such as Gatling guns and RPG's and so on. And 35 tons of that type of weapon and ammo is enough to do damage. I didn't see any tanks on the tv news pics but i did see lots of weapons cases and what looked like short range missiles. These are far from "dinky toys". A .50 does good damage to a tank with the right rounds. And anyone dumb enough to call these weapons "dinky" obviously never shot one off of saw what they can do. They are not "dinky". But from the TV pics they look like mostly missiles, and a few gun cases.

[trogers]

35 tonnes = ? no. of ping pong bombs, detour on the way to CM?

I recall a Takki leaving Russia and back to Dubai recently.

Edited December 12, 2009 by trogers

[Maestro]

Two off-topic and nonsensical posts about shirts and the replies to them have been deleted.

--

Maestro

[Sabre]

Is that a lot? 35 tonnes?? Sounds like it.

Um, yeah, you could say that.

It's approximately 9,200 AK47 rifles (no ammunition).

Or it's about 13,400 RPG rounds (single stage HEAT - 2.6kg each) (no launchers).

Or it's about 5,000 light machine guns ...

Or a combination of various bits and pieces. Enough to outfit a few hundred soldiers perhaps ...

The article talks about HEAVY WEAPONS... what you mention is dinky toys in warfare...

Fair point - OK so it's approximately 5 M198 howitzers.

[Sabre]

Wow. I wonder where those weapons were headed for?

WOW I wonder where those weapons Come from????

Where they all come from - mostly the USA or Russia.