The operator of Frankfurt airport, Fraport, said air traffic had resumed after a drone sighting. Flights at Germany's busiest hub had been grounded for around an hour on Thursday morning. Around 70 flights were cancelled due to the drone sighting, an airport spokesperson confirmed to news agency AFP. Frankfurt police have launched an investigation and are using a helicopter to determine the reason for the disturbance to the airport. Frankfurt Airport is Germany's biggest airport and it's busiest passenger hub — serving over 64 million passengers in 2017. Concerning rise in drone disruptions Drone sightings have caused similar problems in recent months. In March, Frankfurt Airport was closed for around 30 minutes, while in December London's Gatwick Airport suffered three days of travel chaos due to drone activity. As drones have become more popular and more easily accessible, they pose a serious problem for airports which are testing new measures to ensure air traffic safety. Last year, the German air traffic control group DFS saw a massive spike in the number of disruptions due to drones. They logged 158 disruptions in 2018, compared to 88 in 2017. Most of the disruptions hit Frankfurt, followed by Berlin's Tegel Airport. In Germany, it is illegal to fly drones over airport runways, large gatherings, hospitals, prisons and train tracks. In areas where they are allowed, drones are not permitted to fly higher than 100 meters (328 feet). There are certain exceptions for devices that are flown on special airfields for model airplanes. French army grooms eagles to down drones D'Artagnan attacks the enemy Since mid-2016, d'Artagnan has been trained to target potential aerial threats. The other trained birds at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase are called Athos, Porthos and Aramis, all characters from Alexandre Dumas', "The Three Musketeers." French army grooms eagles to down drones French air force is showing its claws Some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Bordeaux, Mont-de-Marsan is one of five air bases in France that uses falconry. Usually, the birds of prey are kept to scare other birds away from the runway. This reduces the risk of accidents during takeoff or landing. But with France on high alert since January 2015, after a string of terrorist attacks, they have now been appointed drone hunters. French army grooms eagles to down drones Mission accomplished for d'Artagnan Within 20 seconds the raptor has the drone between its talons. It pins it to the ground and covers it with its broad wings. Police in the Netherlands were the first to come up with the idea of using raptors to catch drones, introducing bald eagles into the service in late 2015. French army grooms eagles to down drones Meat served on a drone Eagles are fast, reaching speeds of up to 80 km (50 miles) per hour. Hatched in captivity, the four "musketeers" were served food atop wrecked drones from the age of three weeks. This taught the birds to seize remotely piloted aircraft for food. Now, when they hear a buzzing drone, their hunting instinct kicks in. Their falconer rewards successful interceptions with a hunk of meat. French army grooms eagles to down drones Drone hunting The French army followed suit last year, but opted for the golden eagle. These birds are natural-born killers with hooked beaks, amber eyes and a wingspan of up to 2.2 meters (seven feet). Like all birds of prey, the golden eagle has excellent eyesight and is capable of spotting its target from two kilometers away. French army grooms eagles to down drones Unusual prey The golden eagle has powerful feet, that are feathered all the way to the toes and large, sharp talons to snatch up a variety of prey. This is usually rabbits, squirrels or hares. But in Mont-de Marsan they go for drones. French army grooms eagles to down drones The Army cares for its comrades To prevent the birds from harming themselves, the military has designed mittens made of leather and Kevlar, an anti-blast material, to protect their talons. "I love these birds," their falconer says. "I don't want to send them to their deaths." The falconer cautions against setting "impossible" tasks for birds, such as launching them against larger drones with potentially deadly propellers. Author: Nadine Berghausen rt/rs (Reuters, dpa, AFP) Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.<doc-sep>Advertising Read more Berlin (AFP) Frankfurt airport was shut down for nearly an hour on Thursday morning as operators halted flights over a drone sighting, in the latest such incident affecting a busy European hub. No landings or take-offs were allowed after a drone was spotted over the southern part of the airport area in the early morning, but the all clear was given at 08:15 am (0615 GMT) at Germany's busiest airport. The aviation authority said 143 take-offs and landings were cancelled and 48 aircraft already in the air were diverted to other airports among a total of 1,500 scheduled flights on Thursday. The drone, which was approximately 1.5 metres in diameter, was spotted by several pilots. Police are investigating and a helicopter tried to track the remote-controlled device after the latest drone incident to disrupt flights at the airport. In March, flights were halted for half an hour at Frankfurt airport following a drone sighting, also over the southern part of the site, causing lengthy delays and the cancellation of 60 of that day's 1,439 scheduled flights. German air traffic controllers registered a total of 158 obstructions to scheduled flights caused by drones in 2018, up around 80 percent on the 2017 figure. Germany is not the only country to suffer from airborne pests. London's Gatwick airport was shut down for three days last December over drone sightings, causing holiday travel misery for tens of thousands. As a result, the British government in March brought into force a no-fly zone for drones within five kilometres of British airports. ? 2019 AFP<doc-sep>
A drone sighting caused all flights to be suspended at Frankfurt Airport for around an hour this morning. The airport is Germany’s busiest by passenger numbers, serving almost 14.8 million passengers in the first three months of this year. In a tweet sent after flights had resumed the airport reported that operations were suspended at 07:27, before the suspension was lifted at 08:15, with flights resuming at 08:18. It added that security authorities were investigating the incident. Drohnensichtung am @Airport_FRA . Flugbetrieb im Zeitraum von 07:27 bis 08:15 Uhr eingestellt. Aufklärungs- und Fahndungsmaßnahmen der Sicherheitsbehörden wurden umgesetzt. Flugbetrieb seit 08:18 Uhr wieder aufgenommen. Unsere Pressemitteilung folgt. #BPol #WirSindSicherheit pic.twitter.com/ejXhY4Iva7 — Bundespolizei Flughafen Frankfurt am Main (@bpol_air_fra) May 9, 2019 A report in local press suggests more than 100 takeoffs and landings were cancelled as a result of the disruption caused by the drone sighting. All flights to Frankfurt (FRA) are currently holding or diverting due to drone activity near the airport https://t.co/tAdvgn4Mpf pic.twitter.com/eKC1U2CyTq — International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) May 9, 2019 It’s the second such incident at the airport after a drone sighting at the end of March also caused flights to be suspended for around half an hour. Drone sightings near airports have been on the increase for years as drones have landed in the market at increasingly affordable prices, as have reports of drone near misses with aircraft. The Frankfurt suspension follows far more major disruption caused by repeat drone sightings at the UK’s second largest airport, Gatwick Airport, late last year — which caused a series of flight shutdowns and travel misery for hundreds of thousands of people right before the holiday period. The UK government came in for trenchant criticism immediately afterwards, with experts saying it had failed to listen and warnings about the risks posed by drone misuse. A planned drone bill has also been long delayed, meaning new legislation to comprehensively regulate drones has slipped. In response to the Gatwick debacle the UK government quickly pushed through an expansion of existing drone no-fly zones around airports after criticism by aviation experts — beefing up the existing 1km exclusion zone to 5km. It also said police would get new powers to tackle drone misuse. In Germany an amendment to air traffic regulations entered into force in 2017 that prohibits drones being flown within 1.5km of an airport. Drones are also banned from being flown in controlled airspace. However with local press reporting rising drone sightings near German airports, with the country’s Air Traffic Control registering 125 last year (31 of which were around Frankfurt), the 1.5km limit looks similarly inadequate.