Drones close Dubai Airport

by Geoffrey Thomas and Steve Creedy
1350
February 15, 2019
Emirates china
Photo: Emirates

Dubai Airport was briefly closed by a suspected drone sighting Friday.

The Associated Press said the airport  halted flights from 10:13 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Friday over “suspected drone activity.”

Flights were later resumed.

The AP said alleged drone sightings have previously disrupted flights into the airport and the UAE is among a number of countries now requiring owners to register.

Passengers tweeted:

 33 minutes ago

Stuck for ages at Dubai airport runway unable to taxi as unauthorized drones have entered the airspace here and all takeoffs have been grounded! This seems to be happening often in airports everywhere

Dubai airport going nowhere due to drone flying around. So thousands of people sitting in planes going nowhere. What is wrong with people flying drones near airports!!!

Drones delay flights in and out of Dubai airport – reports

In December, flights through London’s busy Gatwick Airport were suspended over two days because of drones.

 

The closure caused extensive disruption to passengers with hundreds of flights canceled or diverted.

Read: World’s Best Airlines for 2019

And in January a drone caused problems at Heathrow Airport.

Last Saturday, a drone reportedly came within meters of a Virgin Australia Boeing 737 approaching Brisbane Airport in the latest scare involving the ubiquitous remotely piloted aircraft.

Flight VA329 was about 4nm from Brisbane at an altitude of 1300ft on Saturday when it narrowly missed the white drone.

“The flight crew from VA329 visually saw a drone on approach into Brisbane Airport on Saturday,’’ a Virgin spokeswoman said.

“VA329 landed safely in Brisbane and the event has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.”