flew a MiG-17 from Maputo to over Kruger National Park in South Africa, after which he was intercepted and escorted to land at Air Force Base Hoedspruit. On landing he asked for political asylum. The aircraft was later returned to Maputo by road, after extensive examination, flight testing and an appearance at an air show. Netherlands On March 7, 1964, a young aircraft engineer, Theo van Eijck, of the Dutch Naval Air Arm MLD stole a two-engined Grumman S-2 Tracker maritime patrol aircraft at RAF Hal Far in Malta and flew to Libya. He was trying to defect to Egypt, but did not have enough fuel to reach his destination in Alexandria. He made a perfect landing on a short airstrip near Benghazi, after flying over Benina Airport. The pilot was then granted political asylum by the Libyan authorities, but a year later he agreed to return to the Netherlands and spent a year in prison. The aircraft was returned to the Dutch afterwards. Nicaragua On 12 June 1979, Nicaraguan National Guard pilot Captain Armangal Lara Cruz defected with his armed Cessna O-2 FAN-320 to Costa Rica. On 23 December 1985, Sandinista Air Force pilot Sub. Lt. Salvador Blanco Lacayo defected to neighboring Honduras with An-2 light transport plane. On 8 December 1988, A Sandinista Air Force pilot Captain Edwin Estrada Leiva defected to Honduras in a Soviet-built Mi-25 attack helicopter. North Korea On April 28, 1950, 24-year-old Lieutenant Lee Kun Soon defected by flying his Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-10 to Pusan, South Korea. On September 21, 1953, 21-year-old No Kum-sok, a senior lieutenant in the Korean People's Air Force, flew his MiG-15 to the South and is associated with Operation Moolah. Considered an intelligence bonanza as this fighter plane was then the best the Communist bloc had, No was awarded the then immense sum of $100,000 (just under $1 million adjusted for inflation (2020)) and the right to reside in the United States. An offer to return the MiG was ignored, and the aircraft is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. On June 21, 1955, North Korean air force pilots Capt. Lee Un-yong and Lt. Lee Eun-song defected to Seoul, South Korea, with a Yak-18 training plane. In December 1970, Major Pak Sun-kok, a pilot in the North Korean Air Force, is believed to have defected in Gangwon Province, South Korea