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LAST UPDATE | 21 Feb 2019
DUBLIN AIRPORT HAS resumed flight operations after they were earlier suspended due to the sighting of a drone.
Operations were suspended for 30 minutes, and flight schedules are now beginning to return to normal.
Two flights were diverted to Belfast and one to Shannon during that period.
Gardaí have said they are “investigating the alleged sighting of a drone around the area at Dublin Airport”. No arrests have currently been made.
An airport spokesperson said a pilot had reported a definite sighting of a drone while taxiing to a runway. The pilot made the report to air traffic control and a decision was made to suspend flights.
“A 30-minute suspension of flights was implemented by air traffic control at that point, which is the agreed procedure in such cases,” the DAA – which handles operations at Dublin Airport – said in a statement.
As there were no further drone sightings within the 30-minute suspension period, Dublin Airport resumed flight operations shortly after noon.
The safety and security of airport users is [the] DAA’s key priority at all times and staff at Dublin Airport, the IAA, and other agencies continue to remain vigilant in relation to drone activity in the vicinity of the airport.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, a spokesperson for the DAA said there would be some knock-on delays as a result of the suspension, but that as the stoppage was only for a relatively short time, airlines should catch up throughout the day.
Raised in the Dáil
The matter was raised in the Dáil this afternoon by Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary who questioned Tánaiste Simon Coveney over the government’s preparedness to deal with issues of drones at airports.
“This is an issue that has been raised with the Minister for Transport. He has given a commitment to look into the issue and to ensure that an appropriate response is put in place,” Coveney said.
“But there are some very sophisticated airports in some very well-resourced countries that haven’t been able to deal with this issue easily.
“So I don’t think we should pretend that Ireland should be immune from challenges that are very difficult to deal with from a technical perspective.
But of course we will learn from the lessons of others… and ensure that we put mechanisms in place that are as effective as possible.
At the airport
After flights had resumed, an increased number of plane watchers gathered at the airport’s perimeter to watch planes taking off and landing again.
A number of gardaí were also present at the layby and airport rescue vehicles were driving past inside the perimeter.
Ugo Alambi and his wife Patricia said they usually come by for ten minutes each day to watch the planes and arrived today after flights had resumed.
They said both gardaí and Airport Police were patrolling and asking watchers what they had seen.
“We came here and saw all the police afterwards and I asked what was happening and she said it was a drone. There were a lot of [police] around,” Ugo said.
He added that he knows the incident is a first for Ireland and can be difficult to stop.
“It happened over in England, I know that but it’s the first time here.
“I was talking to my friend here and she was saying, they can be anywhere these drones, they can be anywhere, so it’s very difficult to catch.”
A couple of other watchers noted that flights returned swiftly after they were suspended this morning.
Concerns
Concerns were expressed late last year that an Irish airport could be affected by drones after Gatwick Airport near London was shut down due to the presence of a drone in December.
The British Army was called into help address the situation and there was massive disruption at the London airport, which only operates one runway, all day on 20 December as a result of drones flying overhead.
The vast majority of the 110,000 passengers due to fly to or from the airport were affected as at least 800 flights were cancelled and a number of others diverted or delayed.
The chaos at the time sparked concerns that a similar incident could happen at an Irish airport, with questions whether there were laws in place to help combat a situation like today’s occurring.
Since December 2015, all drones weighing over 1kg must be registered with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
Under the Irish Aviation Authority (Small Unmanned Aircraft (Drones) and Rockets) Order, drones are not allowed fly in civil or military controlled airspace or within 5km of an aerodrome or airport unless the aerodrome operator has given permission, and no higher than 400 feet above ground or sea level.
Safety meeting
In January, Transport Minister Shane Ross convened a special meeting of the National Civil Aviation Threat and Risk Group over the risks posed by drones.
“There are already strict rules in Ireland around the use of drones, including an exclusion zone of five kilometres around airports,” the minister said at the time.
“The misuse of drones is an offence, and flying drones in controlled Irish airspace or within five kilometres of an airport is a very serious matter.
I have asked my department to convene at short notice a special meeting of an expert industry group to assess recent events and advise me on how we are prepared at our own airports and whether there are further things which can be done.
- With reporting from Rónan Duffy at Dublin Airport, and Órla Ryan
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ESB made an operating profit of €445 million last year.
They can fix their own problems please.
@Leo Massey: Correct and this ripoff given the green light as usual by our wonderful government…..a country of 5 million making profits of half a billion…..unreal.
@Leo Massey: They’re state owned. The profits go to the government. The money still comes from the same place in the end.
@Leo Massey: you are talking about ESB Group and final profit after exceptional item, interest and tax was €60m
@Peter Hughes: Was at one point we had one of the cheapest electric in Europe then was increased to allow other companies to come into the market. Well done FF
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: and your proof for this claim?
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: Yes it was the cheapest electricity in the EU at one point. But “competition” was introduced. This resulted in the ESB as it was then being obliged to raise prices so that private competitors could undercut them due to the small scale of the Irish market. It also reduced the cost effectiveness of the then ESB due to reduced scale. It has delivered precious little to the Irish public except the illusion of price competition in a tiny market with a widely dispersed population. Thank goodness they decided not to privatise the national grid. Competition is usually a good thing but, in my view, electricity generation in a tiny market like Ireland is as close to a natural monopoly as it gets. So regulate the public monopoly and don’t introduce faux competition.
@John R: The market was opened to competition in 2009. The ESB were not allowed to lower prices until it had lost a significant amount of customers to other suppliers. This happened in 2011 and the ESB were allowed set their own prices. They also had to change their name to Electric Ireland at the time. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/cheaper-bills-are-on-way-as-esb-sets-own-prices-26710661.html
People saying we had the cheapest rates don’t seem to be able to produce evidence. It was a state owned company that generated revenue for the government. I’m sure they were nice however and rat it at a huge loss.
Map and share data on any kind of pollution anywhere @ OpenLitterMap.com – the data is accessible to everyone as open data so citizens can make sure local authorities are doing their job.
The ESB doesn’t have the money to change these oil filled cables which have given great service for a great many years. Newer PVC type insulation cables have no maintenance whatsoever and if the Regulator gives money to the ESB to change out these old cables, the ESB would do it no problem.
@Wild Goose: Sorry but they hit this for years. They made 445 million last year!!!!
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: is that ESB networks that made that money or Electric Ireland which is a different company.
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: Also you do realise that since its state owned the profits are handed to the government. it doesn’t really matter if its the ESB or the government who pays for it
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: ESB Group made that figure. Also after exceptional items, interest and tax it was €60m for the Group.
@Darren Byrne: But will anyone be sacked for hiding this for years????
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: here come the uneducated, shouting ill thought out baseless statements.
@Vincent #SaveDaredevil: They didn’t hide it. They reported it to the body they were obliged to report it to.
FYI you can thank the Labour party for enacting the protected disclosures act 2014 which allowed Mr. McLoughlin his civil protections.
This is disgusting. A semi-state knowingly polluting waterways but deciding that it’s not in the public’s interest to disclose such information. Wouldn’t it be nice to have government organisations that lead by example. If the government don’t care, why should anyone else? A case of “do as we say, not as we do”?
@Shakka1244: The ESB has being reporting on this to the regulator for years. The reason this is in the news is that RTE picked up on it and the ESB are now taking to the EPA. whom they had not informed. The question is whose job was it to report this problem to the EPA? The ESB? The regulator? Or both of them? Or perhaps there is no statutory requirement to report it to the EPA at all which would seem most peculiar.
I fail to see the controversy in this. They used the common practice of the time when installing these cables, with non toxic biodegradable oils, newer maintenance free options are becoming available and these will be changed out over the coming years. There is no secrecy, only non awareness by the non technical public. I’d be surprised if the EPA if had not always considered and counted this as known source of soil contamination. That is a question that needs answering.
The continuous replacement at such a high level is surprising though, that might negate any biodegradability benefit. Have they worked out how much per year per cubic meter of effected soil? Or how low that needs to be effectively broken down? Or how flooding plays into it all?
Expect whopping great increases in electricity bills, have to pay for the new cables.
The oil filled cables are topped up from supply tanks at sub-stations.
Oil leakage was no secret but the ESB were hardly going to go boasting about it.
This looks like a flash in the pan sensation reporting.
BTW 1,000 m3 over 20 years over the whole country.
Does that count for much? I’d say there is more disposed into drains and back gardens every week.
They claim most was mineral oil, but these are old cables from when PCB was commonly used for electrical insulation and cooling:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl
https://www.epa.ie/pubs/forms/surveys/PCB%20Information%20Leaflet.pdf
Ha like the missing 100,000 litres of JetA1 from #IrishAirCorps fuel farm that EPA, kept quiet about.
@Chemical Brothers: That be 3 Tanker loads very hard to hide 3 tankers.
Perhaps they should investigate the utter waste of money at ESB. While charging customers increases they regularly spend outrageous amounts sending staff away, nights out and bonuses.
Were we Irish born incompetent, or just blind to it?
@Denis McClean:
Olive oil has many uses but it’s is a fairly new phenomena here in cooking.
The extra virgin variety is great for a massage, it has been reported.
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