Unknown drones spotted at Riga airport
Photo: Unidentified drones spotted at Riga airport (wikipedia.org)
On January 13, unknown drones were spotted on the territory of Riga International Airport. In this regard, the Civil Aviation Agency of Latvia has asked the State Police and the State Security Service to investigate possible threats to civil aviation, Delfi reports.
On January 13, it was reported that Latvia's airspace had to impose temporary flight restrictions three times due to the presence of unidentified drones near Riga Airport. The drones posed a significant danger to civil aviation flights.
According to the Civil Aviation Agency, more than one drone was involved in flights over Riga Airport.
As a result of the restrictions, three flights had to be diverted to other airports: an airBaltic flight from Sofia to Riga and a Wizzair flight from Kutaisi to Riga were redirected to Vilnius, and a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Riga turned back to Helsinki.
During subsequent drone flights, the previously diverted airBaltic and Wizzair flights returned from the alternative Vilnius airport, waiting in Latvian airspace until the airport reopened, and then successfully landed at Riga Airport.
Due to restrictions imposed due to the flights of unidentified drones, many flights from Riga Airport were delayed.
It is noted that the information available to the Civil Aviation Agency indicates that drone flights could have been deliberately carried out in order to jeopardize the safety of civil aircraft or deliberately disrupt the civil aviation sector in Latvia.
Therefore, the agency asks the State Police and the State Security Service of Latvia to investigate possible threats to civil aviation as part of the criminal procedure.
Earlier, it was reported that the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) had launched an investigation after several drones were spotted over Bundeswehr facilities in Manching and Neuburg an der Donau.
