Multiple drones were seen flying over Munich International Airport (MUC) in Germany on Thursday evening, forcing the airport to close its doors. The shutdown, which lasted more than an hour, caused a lot of problems for air traffic, forcing flights to land as drone-related accidents rose across Europe.
The German publication BILD was the first to announce the news. They confirmed the shutdown with a spokeswoman for the Federal Police, Stefan Bayer.
Flights Stopped for More Than an Hour
According to the BILD report, airport operators said that the runways were closed about 10:30 p.m. local time. Flights couldn’t take off or land for more than an hour. The Federal Police later confirmed that at least 50 flights were affected by the grounding. An original report said that at least 22 flights were cancelled or delayed.
It was hard for cops on the ground and in deployed helicopters to get important information about the objects they saw since it was so dark. A representative for the Federal Police said that they couldn’t tell right away what kind or kind of drones they were because it was dark.
An investigation is going on Authorities quickly began looking into who was behind the drone sightings in Russia. Ground response teams and helicopters were both sent in to try to find the aerial vehicles or their operator and stop the threat. Authorities did say, though, that they hadn’t found the drones or caught a suspect by the time the report came out.
The incident happened during a time when many in Europe were worried about security, since various countries had reported seeing Russian drones in the last few weeks. There is no official word that the drones above Munich Airport were connected to Russia, even if there are a lot of sightings and other geopolitical issues going on.
The airport’s closing time is especially important because this week is the commencement of the annual Oktoberfest celebrations, which means that German airports are seeing a lot of extra traffic.
Recent Drone Use in Europe
The Munich incident comes after a number of similar drone and airspace violations in NATO countries in Europe:
Poland: On September 9, NATO jets were sent to stop between 19 and 23 drones that were said to have infiltrated Polish airspace.
Romania: A Russian drone was seen near the Danube River on September 13.
On September 19, Estonia said that three Russian MiG-31 planes were flying above its airspace.
Denmark: From September 22 to 28, there were several reports of drones flying near airports and military locations. This included a four-hour shutdown of Copenhagen Airport.