An unauthorized drone intrusion over Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (清泉崗基地) in Taichung last night forced the temporary closure of the airport, diverting eight fighter jets and delaying a commercial flight, authorities said.
The Air Force Command Headquarters said that clear weather yesterday had allowed for scheduled night training exercises.
However, after a drone was spotted entering the airspace, the control tower declared an emergency closure of the airport, forcing eight Indigenous Defense Fighter jets in the air to divert and land at Hsinchu Air Base (新竹基地).
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
Taichung International Airport director Chang Jui-shu (張瑞澍) said the airspace intrusion lasted from 7:37pm to 8:02pm.
The closure forced a passenger flight arriving from Macau to circle the airport before it was allowed to land, Chang said.
After airport operations personnel spotted the drone, the military immediately notified the Taichung Police Department's Cingshuei Precinct, which dispatched officers to search the affected area in Sishi Borough (西勢), police said.
Officers did not find the drone or its operator, but remained on standby in the area until the military issued an all-clear, police said, adding that patrols would be increased to track down the suspect.
The air force has handed the case over to the Aviation Police Bureau for further investigation.
The bureau's Taichung station warned that flying a drone within the airport's 2.6km restricted no-fly zone carries a heavy penalty.
Violators face having their drone operator license revoked and could be fined between NT$300,000 and NT$1.5 million (US$9,531 to US$47,654) by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, in addition to having their equipment confiscated, police said.
Responding to criticism that the air force did not employ anti-drone defenses, Taiwan Association for Security and Development chairman Chi Tung-yun (紀東昀) said that while all military airports in Taiwan have been equipped with anti-drone systems developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, the "soft-kill" technology is limited to the confines of the airport.
As the drone in this incident was operating near a flight path outside the base, Chi suggested that the military expand the deployment of anti-drone systems to include restricted safety zones along surrounding flight paths.
Taiwan should catch up with the latest technology in the US, as airports there have the ability to shoot down drones with lasers, Chi added.
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