Drone Sighting Haltsโ Flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Amsterdam,โ Netherlands – Theโข Polderbaan runway at Amsterdam Schiphol โคAirport was temporarily closed for approximately 45 minutes this afternoon following multiple reportsโ of a drone โคflying in the vicinity, disrupting air traffic. The closure began โaround โ12:10 PM local time after pilots reported the drone to โair traffic โขcontrol, โคobserving it โat an altitude of roughly 150 meters.
The incident underscores the ongoingโค threat drones pose to airport security โฃand operations โglobally. While the drone and it’s operator were notโฃ located despite a search involving police helicopters,โข the temporaryโฃ shutdown ofโฃ a key runwayโ at one of Europe’s busiest airports highlights the potential for meaningful disruption. Aircraft were โขdiverted to theโ Zwanenburgbaan during theโ closure, which ended around 1:00 PM.
Pilots reported the drone flying as close as fifty meters to a Transavia aircraft, according โฃto a liveโข stream fromโ an airplane spotter on youtube.โ The Marechaussee, the Dutch military police, believes the drone was likely operated by a โhobbyist and described the โฃincident as “fairly unique” in termsโ of its impact onโ air traffic.
Flying drones near Schipholโข Airport is prohibited due to the inherent โคdanger to aircraft. The incident comes after similar disruptions at airports โฃin Denmark and Oslo last week, where drone sightings led to closures and prompted the Danish government to consider theโค events โคa potential securityโค threat.Authorities have not yet identified the type of drone involved in today’s incident.