World

Mystery Drone Sightings Bring Travel Chaos to NATO City

UP IN THE AIR

A pilot reported seeing several unmanned aerial vehicles hovering around the runway.

Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airlines' SAS company park on ground at the Gardamoen Airport during a strike of pilots to contest wages and working hours on April 26, 2019 in Oslo, Norway. - Pilots at SAS walked off the job in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, stranding 70,000 travellers as more than 300 flights were cancelled, the airline said. Domestic, European and long-haul flights were all affected by the strike, it  said, predicting that a total of 170,000 passengers would be affected through April 28, 2019.
Ole Berg-Rusten/AFP via Getty Images

Air traffic was briefly halted early Monday after a pilot reported seeing multiple drones circling near a major European airport, officials confirmed. Norway’s Oslo Airport operator said one or more incoming aircraft were ordered to hold in the air while authorities investigated the possible drone activity. “No aircraft departed for alternative airports,” a spokesperson said, adding that normal operations resumed once the scene was deemed safe. According to police, a pilot on approach reported spotting three to five drones hovering near the runway around midnight. The sighting has not been verified, and investigators are still reviewing radar and surveillance data. The incident is the latest in a string of mysterious drone disruptions that have hit NATO airspace in recent weeks. Airports in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Munich have all reported temporary shutdowns or delays after unidentified drones were seen near flight paths. After the German airspace incursion, European authorities indicated that Russia could be behind the drone activity. A European Commission spokesperson said that “Russia is testing the European borders.” Last year, a swarm of mystery drones buzzed past military bases, power lines, and even President Donald Trump’s golf course in New Jersey. The operators were never identified.

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