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Wear kevlar when flying over Cambodia

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Probably just AK fire, but still... it could leave a mark.

Troops fire on Bangkok Airways plane

CAMBODIAN troops have fired shots at a passenger aircraft flying near the country's disputed border with Thailand, believing it to be a spy plane.

"The Cambodian military fired because there was a Thai passenger plane - Bangkok Airways - which could not land at Siem Reap airport because of bad weather," said Thai deputy army spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.

"It was misunderstood by Cambodia to be spy plane," he said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident near the northern Cambodian tourist destination of Siem Reap.

Cambodian military at the border - the site of deadly territorial clashes between the neighbouring countries last year - confirmed troops had opened fire at an aircraft.

"It was dark so we could not see what type of plane it was. But it was circling many times and then our soldiers fired 18 shots from a machine gun, but it missed the plane because it was flying very high," Commander Seng Phearin said.

"I think a passenger plane would not fly around the border. We suspected it was a spy plane, so we fired to defend our airspace," he said, adding the aircraft had been around 10km inside Cambodia.

He said the incident happened at 7pm local time (10pm AEST) on Wednesday, although the Thai authorities said it occurred Thursday morning.

AFP was unable to immediately contact Bangkok Airways.

Cambodia and Thailand traded heavy arms fire over a disputed border in early 2011 under the previous Thai government, but ties have warmed significantly since Yingluck Shinawatra took power in Thailand.

Ms Yingluck, whose brother Thaksin has remained close to Phnom Penh strongman Hun Sen since being deposed from power in a 2006 coup, is due to meet the Cambodian leader for talks in Siem Reap on Friday.

The meeting will be on the sidelines of the largest ever gathering of American businesses in Asia hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and attended by a score of regional dignitaries.
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That sounds kind of...

Linky
 
Pro-tip...when flying in such a region, SIT on that flak vest, don't wear it...you'll get more/better protection.
 
With such altitude would machine gun bullets have enough power to penetrate the hull of passenger aircrafts?
 
kyrax12 said:
With such altitude would machine gun bullets have enough power to penetrate the hull of passenger aircrafts?
Click to expand...

Unless it's flying very low, I don't think most standard ammunition would even REACH flying vehicles.
Considering you can usually measure aircraft altitudes in MILES (or KM, if it please ya - usually in tens of thousands of feet/meters technically speaking), that is beyond the range of most smaller-caliber rounds. Sniper rifles, with many more grains and power, still have limited use beyond mile (and even then - calculating drop-off and windage).
Firing up, fighting entirely against gravity? Not a chance even at aircraft 2 or 3 KM above ground - a highly trained sniper with proper ammo, who can factor in the high speeds and distances in the sky with no visual references... and the aircraft is landing or low for some reason... that's a big "unlikely but maybe."


Nothing to fear unless they start firing at you as you wrap up the final approach and are almost hugging the ground with the runway in your sights. 😉
 
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