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Javaman

(62,521 posts)
Mon Jun 13, 2022, 10:40 AM Jun 2022

Elusive Plane Puzzled European Air Defenses, Then Its Crew Vanished

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/elusive-plane-puzzled-european-air-defenses-then-its-crew-vanished

An unidentified aircraft flew through airspaces belonging to multiple countries, almost all of them NATO members, without any official dispatch or approved flight plan. The illegal journey, which began in Lithuania, was monitored closely by all nations involved without any communication from the pilot. The plane was eventually found in Bulgaria covered in canvas without any trace of its crew.
The plane is reported to have initially departed from an undisclosed airport in Lithuania and then proceeded to fly over Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania before entering Bulgaria through the northern city of Vidin. With the exception of Serbia, all of the nations are part of the NATO alliance.

The plane reportedly finally landed in a small abandoned Bulgarian airfield known as the Targovishte Airport near the village of Buhovtsi between Targovishte and Shumen. The airport is purported to have not accepted a plane for many years, and locals have begun utilizing it in the summer months for agricultural purposes. European news source Euractiv states that when the plane was discovered, its engine was still warm.

The kind of plane used to carry out this dramatic excursion has been debated. While the majority of European news coverage is reporting it to be a two-seated, twin-engine Beechcraft plane, Lithuanian media has cited what they are claiming to be the plane’s official registration number. The LRT.It article claims that it was registered as LY-LOO, which is a registration number held by the 1962 PA-23-250 Aztec aircraft manufactured by Piper Aircraft but is apparently no longer valid. In the image posted at the top of this story and by Bulgarian TV via Euractiv.com, the plane in question looks exactly like an Aztec.

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Elusive Plane Puzzled European Air Defenses, Then Its Crew Vanished (Original Post) Javaman Jun 2022 OP
JFK is coming mercuryblues Jun 2022 #1
Chemical spreader? blm Jun 2022 #2
A Lithuanian prank. Sneederbunk Jun 2022 #3
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