What do we know about the drone incident at Sweden’s Arlanda Airport?

All flights were grounded at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport in the middle of the night after several drones were spotted from the control tower.

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“The Civil Aviation Authority decided not to allow take-offs or landings, and flights were redirected, after drones were observed at Arlanda Airport,” police wrote in a statement.
Cecilia Bengtström from the aviation authority told the TT newswire that there were four of them in varying size.

Around five flights were redirected to airports such as Nyköping and Gothenburg, with some redirected as far away as Copenhagen or Finland, according to Swedish media.
According to Aftonbladet, one of the flights, which landed at Skavsta outside Nyköping, was met by fire engines after an emergency alert was issued.
“It’s not as dramatic as it sounds,” Jörgen Hansson from the emergency services told the newspaper. “The plane had low fuel levels so it’s part of the routine. The landing went well.”
The drones were spotted around 1am, with traffic resuming around 3.30am on Monday.
“The police are collecting information on what has been observed and have launched a preliminary investigation into airport sabotage and violation of the Protection Act,” police wrote on their website.
The Protection Act refers to skyddslagen, the law which designates certain key areas, like airports and defence-related buildings, as protected areas, prohibiting unauthorised people from entering, photographing or mapping the area, among other things.
Around 10pm on Sunday, police were also alerted to the presence of suspected drones in Uppsala, Upsala Nya Tidning reports. They were allegedly close to a protected area. The event has also been reported as a potential violation of the Protection Act.
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“They were close to our operations, essentially police buildings,” Tobias-Ahlen Svalbro, from the police, told the newspaper.
Police have said that it is too early to say whether there’s a connection between the sightings in Uppsala and Arlanda.
Flying a drone near an airport requires special permission, and airport sabotage can risk a jail sentence of up to four years, if the aim is to endanger the security or function of the airport.
If there is deemed to have been a risk to human life, then it is classified as gross airport sabotage, which can carry a life sentence.
No arrests had been made by the time of publication.

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Comments (1)

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Tony

2024/09/09 19:18

According to website Cornucopia, nighttime NATO exercises are taking place around Arlanda and the Ärna military airfield outside Uppsala for most of the week. The four drones last night could perhaps just by chance have been operated by somebody who would like to disturb NATO exercises.

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“The Civil Aviation Authority decided not to allow take-offs or landings, and flights were redirected, after drones were observed at Arlanda Airport,” police wrote in a statement.
Cecilia Bengtström from the aviation authority told the TT newswire that there were four of them in varying size.
Around five flights were redirected to airports such as Nyköping and Gothenburg, with some redirected as far away as Copenhagen or Finland, according to Swedish media.
According to Aftonbladet, one of the flights, which landed at Skavsta outside Nyköping, was met by fire engines after an emergency alert was issued.
“It’s not as dramatic as it sounds,” Jörgen Hansson from the emergency services told the newspaper. “The plane had low fuel levels so it’s part of the routine. The landing went well.”
The drones were spotted around 1am, with traffic resuming around 3.30am on Monday.
“The police are collecting information on what has been observed and have launched a preliminary investigation into airport sabotage and violation of the Protection Act,” police wrote on their website.
The Protection Act refers to skyddslagen, the law which designates certain key areas, like airports and defence-related buildings, as protected areas, prohibiting unauthorised people from entering, photographing or mapping the area, among other things.
Around 10pm on Sunday, police were also alerted to the presence of suspected drones in Uppsala, Upsala Nya Tidning reports. They were allegedly close to a protected area. The event has also been reported as a potential violation of the Protection Act.
“They were close to our operations, essentially police buildings,” Tobias-Ahlen Svalbro, from the police, told the newspaper.
Police have said that it is too early to say whether there’s a connection between the sightings in Uppsala and Arlanda.
Flying a drone near an airport requires special permission, and airport sabotage can risk a jail sentence of up to four years, if the aim is to endanger the security or function of the airport.
If there is deemed to have been a risk to human life, then it is classified as gross airport sabotage, which can carry a life sentence.
No arrests had been made by the time of publication.