Rise in unlawful drones near Swedish airports
Xinhua, January 5, 2017 Adjust font size:
A record number of incidents involving remote-control drones and airplanes were reported near Swedish airports last year.
New statistics show that there was a spike in reports of unlicensed drone-use around airports, Swedish Television reports, but no convictions so far.
"We had to stop traffic on two occasions in 2016," said Anders Carlsson, head of operations at Bromma airport in Stockholm. On those occasions, flights had to depart from Arlanda airport instead of Bromma, he said.
The number of incidents involving drones near Swedish airports has risen significantly in the past few years, from six incidents in 2014 to 33 last year, according to figures from the Swedish Transport Agency.
Three of the most recently reported incidents have had a "major impact on air traffic" and 10 of them had a "significant impact." On one occasion, an aircraft collided with a drone, said Carlsson.
No life-threatening accidents have occurred yet and the Transport Agency did not want to say which airports had been most affected or how many times Swedish airports had had to shut down because of drones in the airspace.
In Sweden, the unlawful use of drones is punishable by fines or imprisonment. Endit