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The Riga airport airspace was closed due to a drone that has not been found so far, transport and communications minister Talis Linkaitis reported on Twitter.
Laura Karnitė, head of communications at Riga airport, confirmed to the news agency that due to the drone incident, the SmartLynx airline, which had flown from Urumqi to the Latvian capital, had to land in Tallinn.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus infection, international passenger flights have not been operated since mid-March, except on certain pre-established flights, but cargo continues to be transported by air.
The Civil Aviation Agency announced earlier Sunday that restrictions on the use of Latvian airspace had been imposed due to the lack of drones.
The lost drone belongs to the UAVFactory unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing company, confirmed its representative Jevgenijus Šilnikovas.
According to him, the connection to the plane disappeared during the test flight, when it flew relatively slowly at a certain altitude. Drones have an automatic engine shutdown feature that should work in such cases, but this has not happened.
Silnikov said the plane could fly for up to 12 hours and that its distance depends on the wind.
The company, which sells drones and video cameras in more than 50 countries around the world and supplies drones to the Latvian army, has apologized for the inconvenience.
Latvia has warned air traffic controllers in neighboring countries that a drone may cross its borders, said Aivis Vincev, spokesman for the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency.
The 26kg drone control system was shut down due to mechanical failure while flying at an altitude of over 200m on Saturday. The Civil Aviation Agency issued a warning about an uncontrolled drone. The last possible locations are in the Bauska and Adaziai districts.
According to A. Vincev, this is the first such incident in Latvia.
People generally use smaller drones that cannot fly very far when control fails, and some smaller drones that people can no longer control hit trees, the spokesperson said.
Various event scenarios are considered, including the assumption that the drone has already landed.
People who see a drone in the air should contact the Aerial Search and Rescue Coordination Center immediately.
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