More and more drones are on the move via German airports. This year, for the first time more than a hundred of these small flying objects were spotted at airports, said the German air traffic control (DFS) with. Up to and including August 12, this was already more observations than in the entire previous year - with a total of 88 cases. In the years before, there were 64 (2016) and 14 (2015) sightings.
Since October 2017 tightened rules for the drone flight apply. It is banned by law at airports, arrivals and departures. "Our core topic is air safety, which is our responsibility, so we are watching the increasing number of drone sightings with great attention and concern," said DFS chief Klaus-Dieter Scheurle.
As in 2017, most of the drones were sighted in the arrivals and departures area of Frankfurt Airport: By the middle of August, 20 had been sighted, according to DFS data. Munich followed with twelve before Berlin-Tegel with nine sightings. There were eight objects in Hamburg, seven in Cologne / Bonn, six in Berlin-Schönefeld, four each in Stuttgart and Bremen, and two in Düsseldorf. The remaining sightings were made at smaller airports such as Nuremberg, Dresden and Erfurt. According to air traffic control, drones dropped farther away from the airports 18 times.
Distance of 1.5 kilometers to airports prescribed
According to regulations, drone pilots have to keep a distance of 1.5 kilometers to the fence at airports, because the unmanned flying objects with four rotors and camera are a danger for air traffic. Directly over "sensitive zones" such as airports, drone flights are strictly prohibited.
Drones are not on the radar to see, said the DFS. It receives its information from aircraft pilots when they discover the objects on arrival or departure. In 2016, a Lufthansa Airbus almost crashed into a quadcopter while landing in Munich.
Since October 2017, large devices must be marked, some need a lift permit. If the drone is heavier than two kilos, the pilot also needs a proof of knowledge, a "drone driver's license". Photographers use larger models, for example for aerial photography, and mail order companies have already tested parcel deliveries by drone.
In order to safely integrate drones into aviation, DFS and Deutsche Telekom are promoting a "traffic management system for uncontrolled airspace". A drone will be equipped with a modem and a SIM card, a flying smartphone, as the DFS explained. The equipment would allow the determination of the drone location. "Our goal is the use of the system in Germany," says Scheurle. For this, the drone regulation would have to be further developed in line with European ideas.