Two Libyan Mirage F1 fighters defect to Malta

bunk22

bunk22

Well-Known Member
Interesting...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_libya...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdHdvbGlieWFuZmln

VALLETTA (Reuters) – Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.
They said the two pilots, both colonels, took off from a base near Tripoli. One of them has requested political asylum.
The pilots are being questioned by the Maltese police.
The two said they decided to fly to Malta after being ordered to bomb anti-government protesters in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, the sources said.
Police were also questioning seven passengers who landed in European Union member state Malta from Libya on board two French-registered helicopters.
The government sources said the helicopters left Libya without authorization by the Libyan aviation authorities and that only one of the seven passengers -- who say they are French citizens -- had a passport.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman could not immediately confirm the information as it was still being verified.
The four-decade rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been shaken by days of violent protests which reached the capital Tripoli for the first time on Monday.
(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; editing by Diana Abdallah)
 
bunk22 said:
The two said they decided to fly to Malta after being ordered to bomb anti-government protesters in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, the sources said.
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Wow, that's bad. Really, really bad.

Edit to add: Really bad for the government/military to order bombing of their own people, not the 2 pilots that defected.
 
Yeah, I think that might be something a lot of guys would think about if asked to bomb their own cities...
 
I wonder if they cancelled their flight plan on the ground in Malta, or when they had a visual on the active?

"Malta Traffic, Malta Traffic, flight of two Mikoyan-Gurevich 23's in air superiority grey, left downwind 32 Malta for a full stop. Any traffic in the area please advise!"
 
Doug Taylor said:
I wonder if they cancelled their flight plan on the ground in Malta, or when they had a visual on the active?

"Malta Traffic, Malta Traffic, flight of two Mikoyan-Gurevich 23's in air superiority grey, left downwind 32 Malta for a full stop. Any traffic in the area please advise!"
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They waited until they got to the gate.
 
Southernjets has a pilot who defected with a MiG from an Eastern bloc nation back in the day.
 
Stunning developments in the Middle East. I hope that the pilots that did this are not forgotten in history. Unfortunately, I think there have been other pilots, both Helo and fixed-wing, that did not share these two pilots appreciation for their countryman and have in fact bombed the protestors as well as straffed. Not sure, but that is a report I've read.
 
Doug Taylor said:
I wonder if they cancelled their flight plan on the ground in Malta, or when they had a visual on the active?

"Malta Traffic, Malta Traffic, flight of two Mikoyan-Gurevich 23's in air superiority grey, left downwind 32 Malta for a full stop. Any traffic in the area please advise!"
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Left downwind? $20 says it was "Durka flight of 2 Mirages 10 mile initial for approach end break." THEN...the "oh and....any traffic in the area, please advise! Our fishfinders are inop at this time. Oh and uhhh Unicom.....we're going to need a progressive to dearm."
 
That hilarious! ;)

"Constant heavy light turbulence, full stop 32, we'll try to make the high speed turnoff at QWUH-beck, SHOOOGA or Pu-PAH over?"
 
Not sure if it's germane, but the picture I saw of an F1 had nothing on the hardpoints. Maybe it was a "generic" picture, dunno, but it didn't look like the thing was ready to bomb anything. That said, I wouldn't put it past Klodhoppy to bomb his own cities...if Mubarak was a corrupt self-enriching jerk, Gaddafi is a genuine nut. I fear for the Libyan people. I wish we'd take a stronger stance of standing with them.
 
Mark815 said:
sickening. I'd say give those two colonels whatever they want
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I would imagine they'll be happy with being able to go home without being arrested. :) I wonder how long they had to consider their decision.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Not sure if it's germane, but the picture I saw of an F1 had nothing on the hardpoints. Maybe it was a "generic" picture, dunno, but it didn't look like the thing was ready to bomb anything. That said, I wouldn't put it past Klodhoppy to bomb his own cities...if Mubarak was a corrupt self-enriching jerk, Gaddafi is a genuine nut. I fear for the Libyan people. I wish we'd take a stronger stance of standing with them.
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Could have been removed or the pilots defected on a training hop, etc. Just a guess on my part though.
 
In the photos I saw, looks like rocket pods on the outboard stations...but they could be fuel tanks, I suppose.

capt.a4b66c71ba1f4bf199ee6fde63a9eb68-a4b66c71ba1f4bf199ee6fde63a9eb68-0.jpg

4320634.bin

4320462.bin
 
So Yusuf al-Qaradawi (one of Egypt's Bill O'Reillys) just issued a fatwah to kill Gaddaffi. This can end only well, right? Right?
tumblr_lgzkqgergv1qas8z9o1_500.png
 
Yeah, I saw a cropped version of the same picture, showing only the inboard hardpoints.

Sounds like a perfect candidate for a UN "no-fly zone". I'm sure they'll get around to it in six months once everyone is dead and all the oil money is siphoned off to whoever needs paying off.
 
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