– Annette Volkstad, senior assistant air traffic controller at the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority in Gardermoen, says that the fact that we know about flying drones nearby increases the level of safety considerably.
Over the past year, Oslo Airport has been testing a drone detection system that catches all drones moving within a five kilometer area of the airport. Now it will also be offered at other airports across the country.
The system showed that there were far more drones near Gardermoen Airport than Avinor was aware of. In the summer months, the alarm can go off up to 50 times a month.
– It can boil well here. Jan Ron Hansen says: We’ve had a few incidents where we weren’t quite sure for a while, before we got to grips with it and got an overview of what was really going on.
He is the Operations Coordinator at APOC (Airport Operations Center) at Oslo Airport and is responsible for monitoring drone activity in the area. Basically, it is forbidden to fly a drone more than five kilometers from the airport.
Åsted Norge was able to join in and see how the system works. For security reasons, it is not possible to view photos or videos of the system itself. The program is similar to a mapping program that shows the exact location of drones in the area.
See the full report at ÅSTED NORWAY ON game
If a drone is within five kilometers, the alarm goes off, and Hansen must notify those in the control tower and possibly the police.
– Whenever a drone is launched inside the airport no-fly zone, I get a notification on my screen. It tells where the drone is, the altitude, the direction, and where it might be heading, Hansen says.
APOC: Inside the Airport Operations Center (APOC), Jan Rune Hansen monitors whether drones come within five kilometers of the airport. Photo: Aspen Storff
If it is not an authorized drone, someone who has applied for permission from Avinor to fly, both the police and the defence, may have to be notified. Police in Gardermoen would not comment on how any drones or drone pilots are stopped. And they won’t comment on how many of these tasks they have.
50 drone reviews this year
Avinor operates the 44 largest airports in the country and is responsible for the airport area and airspace within a radius of five kilometers around the airport.
So far this year, Avenor has reported 50 drone incidents nationwide.
But at Oslo Airport, it is rare for drone accidents to stop air traffic which is something passengers notice. This is due to the size of the airport and the drone detection system.
– But it may be that the plane has to turn. We should use another part of the runway. There can also be evasive maneuvers of various kinds that go unnoticed, Volkstad says.
Avinor plans to roll out the drone detection system at several airports in Norway on an ongoing basis, but won’t say an exact date. They say they want to start with the largest airports, as there is a great need for such a system.
Juicy fine for those who travel illegally
Permission to fly near the airport can be obtained through the Ninox Drone App with a few simple keystrokes.
– We can also send a message to the drone operator at any time when they are abroad, that they must end the drone flight, Volkstad says.
She encourages anyone who wants to fly a drone near airports to use the app.
– Sure, I’d encourage that, so you don’t have to put the police on your back, you say.
If the police stop you for flying a drone illegally, you can be fined from NOK 8,000 and up.
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