A Russian warplane caught in a court battle between Russia and a Swiss company seeking repayment of alleged debts took off today from the Paris air show, witnesses said.
A journalist at the air show - where a bailiff had earlier sought to impound the fighter and a Russian MiG jet said the Sukhoi had streaked into the sky shortly before 3.30 p.m. (1.30 Irish time).
It was not clear where the plane was heading. The jet and the MiG were earlier moved from their display stands to a hangar about 500 metres from the air show grounds.
A French lawyer for Swiss import-export company Noga said a bailiff with a court order had notified the control tower that the aircraft could not take off.
Noga alleges Russia owes it 63 million dollars in back payment for oil-for-food deals signed in 1991 and 1992 which it claims Moscow did not honour.