PILOTS EXCERCISING IN BOSNIAN AIRSPACE, UN NOTICES

SARAJEVO, Feb 11, (Hina) - UNPROFOR spokesman in Sarajevo, Gary Coward, identified three cases on Friday where the no fly ban was violated. UN military observers in Banja Luka recorded flights of three airplanes of the 'Utva' type and two 'Mi-8' transporter helicopter flights from the airport at Zaluzani, near Banja Luka. UNPROFOR says it has no idea as to what actually happened though Coward offered a deep insight, saying perhaps the flights were intended as an excercise for pilots. UN military observers said last night they saw one transporter and two smaller aeroplanes west of Tuzla. According to the available information, it is believed that the aeroplane was a type 'C-130' and that it was followed by two fighter planes. UNPROFOR officials suggested that the planes wanted to land at Tuzla airport, even if their flight was not announced. A 'blue helmet' patrol was sent to an airport runway in an attempt to confirm what exactly was going out there - but the attempt was aborted when, according to UNPROFOR, the Bosnian army complicated matters by stopping the 'blue helmets' in their tracks. Thirty Bosnian soldiers then allegedly surrounded a UN armoured carrier, seizing the personnel and throwing them in jail for three hours. A UN sposkesman said that owing to that incident, UNPROFOR was unable to say if the aircraft in question effectively landed at Tuzla airport or what had happened to it. UNPROFOR received no report from NATO on these flights, even though NATO aircraft and radar systems are still supposed to supervise Bosnian air space. Another no-fly ban violation was recorded yesterday in the Zenica area (central Bosnia). UN observers said they saw an MI-8 transport plane flying past them three times, but they passed it off as another pilot exercise. (hina) jn as sd 111452 MET feb 95