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Light aircraft found in eastern Slovakia could have served for illegal activities: Interior Ministry

Xinhua, September 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

A light aircraft that had a hard landing in a field near the village of Nizny Hrusov in Eastern Slovakia could have served for illegal activities, said Ivan Netik from the Slovak Interior Ministry's press department on Friday.

"The flight was picked up by a technological device of the Interior Ministry on the Slovak-Ukrainian border. Given the fact that by our measures we prevented it from landing on provisional runways where it had landed in the past, the pilot attempted to land elsewhere and it was there where the aircraft met its fate. The aircraft was monitored due to activities related to the smuggling of cigarettes," stressed Netik.

The aircraft, which landed at Nizny Hrusov, was piloted by an as yet unknown person. No people were found inside or in the vicinity of the area where it landed. The plane was discovered by a local employee.

"The aircraft type is related to the so-called Bumblebee, which was used for crop dusting in the past. Some of the locals claimed that they heard a strong impact at around 5 a.m. local time on Thursday," said Mayor Jan Fencak, who called in police and firefighters to inspect the site.

The aircraft, which was damaged during the emergency landing, was painted dark green and featured the Ukrainian flag and openings cut out of the rear part of the fuselage. Endit