Aircraft of the armed forces of Russia made eight unauthorized entries into Estonian airspace last year, with most incursions taking place in the vicinity of the tiny Gulf of Finland island Vaindloo.
Eight violations of Estonian airspace by Russian warplanes registered in 2014
5th January 2015, 16:40
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The latest such incident occurred on Dec. 25 when an Antonov An-72 entered Estonian airspace without permission and stayed there 1.2 nautical miles deep for about a minute. The aircraft's transponder was switched on and it had previously filed a flight plan according to which the plane was supposed to fly only in the international airspace.
On Dec. 9 a Russian reconnaissance plane Il-20 entered Estonian airspace without permission shortly after 5 p.m. and stayed there to the northwest of Osmussaar Island for about one minute. Its transponder was switched off and it had not filed a flight plan, but it maintained radio contact with the Estonian air traffic control service. The plane was en route from St. Petersburg to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.
On Oct. 21 an Il-20 reconnaissance plane entered Estonian airspace to a depth of approximately 500 meters and stayed in Estonian airspace to the west of the islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa for about one minute,
Five earlier violations took place above Vaindloo Island.