Landings and departures at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) were suspended for about 40 minutes yesterday morning after an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was reported to have entered restricted airspace near the facility.
The Taipei International Airport Office was informed by the pilots of a Mandarin Airline flight that a UAV was flying at 60m in an area between New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止) and Keelung, which is part of the airport’s no-fly zone for drones, office Director Hsu Nei-shin (徐乃新) said.
The office immediately suspended flight operations and dispatched personnel to see if they could locate the drone, but no UAV was found at the location, he said.
Flights operations resumed at 7:50am, but the incident delayed the departure of two international flights and nine domestic flights, affecting 1,308 passengers, he said.
Songshan airport’s operations have been disrupted by UAVs four times this year, including yesterday’s incident.
The airport was forced to shut down twice on the evening of March 15, affecting eight flights and 589 passengers, and then again on the evening of April 12, which affected five flights and 613 passengers.
Under the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法), UAV operators could be fined between NT$300,000 and NT$1.5 million (US$9,518 and US$45,589) if they fly drones within a certain distance from the outer boundary of an airport or airfield in a manner that could be considered hazardous to flight safety.
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