Toulouse: due to a drone alert, a Ryanair plane diverted to Bordeaux
In the landing phase at Touloue-Blaganc airport, an airliner to go around in early September because of a drone alert. Explanations.
“Why didn’t you mention the drone that was flying over the airport”, worried a woman who, with her father, is on a Ryanair flight between Menorca and Toulouse in early September. “When it was time to land, the captain went around. He explained that a drone was preventing the landing, ”says this reader.
“That Sunday, there was indeed a drone report in the middle of the afternoon,” says a member of the security of Toulouse-Blagnac airport. An alert immediately transmitted by the tour to all aircraft in the approach phase. In such a case, the planes are placed on standby in the sky of the Toulouse metropolitan area. “If the kerosene is sufficient, the planes are patient while turning. If the reserve does not allow, the theft is diverted ”, indicates a professional. The Ryanair flight landed in Bordeaux before refueling and returning to Toulouse.
Prison sentence foreseen
This Sunday, September 12, the authorities have, in fact, looked for a drone. Without finding anything. Was the unique report reliable? The searches launched by the border police and the air transport gendarmerie did not make it possible to find the drone and its pilot. Did he exist? Not sure “but we can not take any risk”, warns a specialist. Of course the airport but also the surrounding area, for about 5 km, are prohibited for drones. The police, in particular the air transport gendarmerie, benefit from equipment capable of finding pilot and aircraft. “In the context of unauthorized use, fines are provided,” said a gendarme. But in the context of an obstacle to air transport, we pass on a crime with prison sentences, fines plus seizure, and destruction of the drone! “