Five Australians who were detained for illegally entering Indonesia could return back to Australia soon, AFP reports.

“The judges accepted our arguments that the pilot decided to land as the tower official gave verbal permission despite the pilot’s explanation that they hadn’t obtained landing permit documents,” he said.

“The conversation between the pilot and the tower official in Merauke’s airport had been recorded and we gave a copy to the court.”

The Australians involved were pilot William Scott-Bloxam and his wife, Vera, plus Hubert Hufer, Karen Burke and Keith Ronald Mortimer.

We can only speculate what they were doing flying over or into Papau, which is a “sensitive” area in Indonesia.