Nuremberg’s Albrecht Duerer Airport in Germany was forced to shut down on Tuesday morning after three pilots reported sightings of a suspected drone near the airfield
A major airport has temporarily shut down this morning after three pilots reported sightings of a suspected drone near the airfield. Flights were grounded at Nuremberg’s Albrecht Duerer Airport in Germany early on Tuesday after the reports.
Police said the reports came from three different pilots during takeoffs and landings between 2am and 4am local time. Border police, working alongside airport management and German air traffic control, launched an immediate security sweep. Takeoffs and landings were halted as a precautionary measure.
Police spokesman Michael Petzold said: “The measures carried out, which included among other things a police helicopter, did not lead to the verification of the reported object.
“The Nuremberg border police inspectorate is now conducting further investigations to clarify the events.”
The police operation took place shortly before the landing of the flight in Corfu. The flight was scheduled to land in Nuremberg at approximately 12:15pm, According to Flightradar24, the Corendon Airlines aircraft (flight number XR456) landed safely at 12:16pm.
The airport will remain closed for the time being, and the police operation is ongoing, a spokesperson said. He also confirmed that Eurofighter jets escorted the plane arriving from the Greek island before it landed.
The airport also confirmed the closure on its website: “Due to an in-flight emergency, flight operations are currently suspended.”
Planes scheduled to land in Nuremberg shortly afterward were diverted to Frankfurt, Memmingen, Stuttgart, or Munich. According to BILD, the Special Deployment Commando (SEK) is also reportedly deployed at the airport.
It comes amid heightened concern in Germany over drone incidents near airports. In August, an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport was discovered by authorities close to Ukrainian cargo aircraft.
German officials accused Russia of carrying out the attempted attack as part of its hybrid operations, designed to spread fear among the public and pressure Berlin to scale back its support for Ukraine, reports aa.com. Moscow denied the allegations.
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