Now heavy metal cancels flights too! Rock fan using drone to film Download Festival forces East Midlands airport to close runway and divert passenger flights
- Drones seen near East Midlands Airport disrupted flights on Friday
- The Download heavy metal festival is taking place one mile from the airport
- It is thought the drones were being used to film the three day festival
- The airport boss said it ‘beggars belief’ that people would fly drones nearby
Rock fans flying drones to film a heavy metal festival one mile away from East Midlands Airport have forced it to close, adding to the misery of holiday goers this summer.
The Download festival, a three-day rock and heavy metal extravaganza, is taking place until Sunday at Donington Park in Leicestershire, about one mile (1.6km) from the airport.
But drones attributed to the festival forced the diversion of eight flights on Friday evening and the closure of the runway.
Clare James, the airport’s managing director, said: ‘It beggars belief that someone would do this.
‘It’s a criminal offence, it is very inconvenient for passengers, it costs thousands of pounds for cargo carriers but most of all it is a flight safety risk.
The Download festival, a three-day rock and heavy metal extravaganza, is taking place until Sunday at Donington Park in Leicestershire, about one mile (1.6km) from the airport
The Download festival has been running since 2003 and attracts some of the biggest names in rock and heavy metal, including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Korn and Aerosmith. This year, Iron Maiden, Megadeath and Deftones are among the headliners
Drones attributed to the festival forced the diversion of eight flights on Friday evening and the closure of the runway
‘We have detection equipment here, we are working with police, so my message to whoever is doing this is just stop or face prosecution.’
In the week, overnight flights faced problems, while two passenger flights were diverted to Leeds and Manchester on Friday afternoon.
The airport’s runway was closed for an hour from 11.15pm and six passenger and two cargo flights were forced to reroute.
In a joint statement on Friday, the police, airport and festival team said: ‘Both the festival organisers and the police have enhanced the number of patrols on site and the surrounding areas.
‘The public are reminded that flying a drone in proximity to an operational airport is an offence under the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and is a huge risk to public safety. The police will take appropriate action if necessary.’
East Midlands Airport’s runway was closed for an hour from 11.15pm and six passenger and two cargo flights were forced to reroute due to drone activity
The Download festival has been running since 2003 and attracts some of the biggest names in rock and heavy metal, including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Korn and Aerosmith. This year, Iron Maiden, Megadeath and Deftones are among the headliners.
However, in the 19 years it has been running, there has been vanishingly little controversy attached to a festival that might perceived to attract trouble, until this year.
In December 2018, drone sightings caused chaos at Gatwick airport, leading it to close for 30 hours, disrupting 1,000 flights and more than 140,000 passengers.
The incident was the first time a major airport had been shut down by drones, and triggered a police operation that lasted 18 months, cost £800,000 and involved five separate forces.
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