CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT TRANSPONDER MANIPULATION IN RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS, AERIAL INCIDENTS CASES AND CHICAGO CONVENTION 1944

Garry Gumelar Pratama; Muhammad Rifqi Putra Nanda

Authors

Garry Gumelar Pratama https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1888-4655
Muhammad Rifqi Putra Nanda PT. Pandora Artha

Keywords:

civilian aircraft, military aircraft, reconnaissance missions, safety, transponder manipulation

Abstract

Throughout 2020, the People's Republic of China (PRC) stated that the United States (US) manipulated the electronic identity code of its military aircraft (transponder code) over the South China Sea by using the identity of a civilian aircraft to carry out reconnaissance missions. The discussion of the incidents has faded in the past two years, even being regarded by some observers as a 'common' practice having been used since the Cold War era by the US. These incidents have never been heard to reappear in the South China Sea situation. However, the escalation of reconnaissance practices heated up again after a PRC's high altitude balloon was shot down by a US fighter jet over the US's territorial sea on February 4, 2023. The US had claimed that the aircraft was on a spy mission. This incident could be a starting point for the US to resume the practices throughout 2020 by imprisoning civilian aircraft in the South China Sea or even on the PRC's mainland because this practice is considered 'common' on the US side. By using the international legal research method, in which international legal sources are juxtaposed with the current context in the field, this article concludes that the practice of manipulating civil transponder codes cannot be justified as a 'common' practice because it is endangered the civil aviation and contrary to the Chicago Convention 1944.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Garry Gumelar Pratama

Garry Gumelar Pratama is a lecturer and researcher in International Law with specification on International Air and Space Law. As a researcher listed under the Indonesian Center for Air and Space Law (ICASL), he was involved in research on the regulation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) under national and international law, and the research on the use of military airfield for civil aviation. After acquired his cum laude degree both for bachelor and master program from the Faculty of Law Universitas Padjadjaran, he teaches bachelor courses in International Law at the Faculty of Law Universitas Padjadjaran. He also serves as project administrator of the Nuffic NICHE 4-year project on capacity building on International Law at the Faculty of Law of Universitas Padjadaran. In order to increase his academic capability, he participated in a tailor-made Advanced Course on International Law provided by Clingendael Institute and Maastricht University, The Netherlands in 2015, and the customized course on ASEAN Law in comparison with European Union Law provided by Clingendael Institute in 2017. The two courses were funded by Nuffic. He also had an opportunity to participate as an observer in The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group 4th face-to-face meeting from 11 to 13 September 2017 in Leiden. The meeting concluded the “Draft Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities”. In addition to his research and teaching obligations, he is a member of the International Law Association (ILA) Indonesian Branch.

Sinta ID: 6648532

Google Scholar ID: 4RapD9QAAAAJ

Scopus ID: 57215535613

References

Books
Michael McConville and Wing Hong Chui (eds.), Research Methods for Law, 2nd edition, 2017.
Pablo Mendes de Leon., Introduction to Air Law, Kluwer Law International, the Netherlands: 2022.
Ruwantissa Abeyratne, Convention on International Civil Aviation, Springer, Switzerland: 2014.

Journals
A.Rangrazjeddi, A. D., González, K. Barker, “Applied Game Theory to Enhance Air Traffic Control in 3D Airspace,” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 196 No. 3, 2023.
Farooq Hassan, “The Shooting Down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 by the USSR and the Future of Air Safety for Passengers” The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, No. 3, Vol. 33, 1984.
Gerard Toal, and John O'Loughlin. “'Why Did MH17 Crash?': Blame Attribution, Television News and Public Opinion in Southeastern Ukraine, Crimea and the De Facto States of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria,” Geopolitics, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2018.
Jeffrey D. Laveson, “Korean Airline Flight 007: Stalemate in International Aviation Law - a Proposal for Enforcement,” The San Diego Law Review, No. 4, Vol.22, 1985.
John T. Phelps, “Aerial Intrusions by Civil and Military Aircraft in Time of Peace,” Military Law Review, Vol. 107 1985.
M. Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, “Ordering global governance complexes: The evolution of the governance complex for international civil aviation,” The Review of International Organizations, Vo. 17, No. 2, 2022.
Weiqiang Lin, “Sky Watching: Vertical Surveillance in Civil Aviation”, Environment and Planning, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2017.

Laws, regulations and ICAO documents
Annex 10 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation – Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume I, Radio Navigation Aids, 7th Edition, July 2018.
Annex 10 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation – Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume II, Communication Procedures including those with PANS status, 7th Edition, July 2016.
Annex 10 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation – Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume III, Communications Systems, 2nd Edition, July 2007.
Annex 10 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation – Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume IV, Surveillance and Collision Avoidance Systems, 5th Edition, July 2014.
Annex A of ICAO working paper STA/10-WP/7 for the 10th session of the Statistic Division.
Convention on International Chicago Convention 1944.
ICAO Circular 330-AN/189.
Mode S Downlink Aircraft Parameters Implementation and Operations Guidance Document, ICAO Asia Pacific Office, CNS SG/23.

Electronic references
Antonov, “AN-26 Light Transport Aiplane”, < https://antonov.com/en/history/an-26>, [Accesed 01/01/2023].
ICAO Secretariat, (without year), <https://www.icao.int/secretariat/legal/list%20of%20parties/chicago_en.pdf.>, [accessed 01/05/2022].
Jim Garamone, “F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast,” U.S. Department of Defense, 2023, < https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288543/f-22-safely-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/> [accessed 04/03/2023].
South China Sea Probing Initiatives, “Confirmed, US Surveillance Aircraft Masked as Malaysian Planes to Spy on China,” 2020, <http://www.scspi.org/en/dtfx/confirmed-us-surveillance-aircraft-masked-malaysian-planes-spy-china> [Accesed 01/04/2021].