Jordanian news website Ammonnews, has reported that “Syria has informed Jordan that it either returns the MiG-21 fighter jet and the pilot, or doesn’t want the “abducted” plane, it would stay in Jordan”. The report went on to state that Jordanian authorities have granted the pilot, Colonel Hassan Hamada, political asylum on the basis of the Geneva Convention.
The Pilot had defected on Jun. 21, whilst on a training exercise. Although many media outlets used and still use the image below to show the defecting plane, the photo, literally grabbed by one the major news agencies on a popular aviation forum, actually depicts an Egyptian MiG-21 and not a Syrian Arab Air Force one.
Anyway it is looking like the MiG will stay in Jordan for the foreseeable future.
