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SINGAPORE – In the last three months, twenty cases of illegal drone operations have been detected that intruded into the airspace of Changi Airport and the culprits were arrested.
But there have been no intrusions causing flight disruptions at the airport since July last year.
Revealing this on Monday (November 23), Chief Minister Teo Chee Hean spoke of a “reasonable success” as plans to bolster anti-drone capabilities were advanced following a series of incidents last year.
“We have developed quite a reasonable capacity, but this is a very challenging area and it continues to evolve very quickly because drone technology is moving very fast,” he told reporters when he visited Changi airport.
“We have been reasonably successful. Since July last year, we have had no intrusions causing disruptions to flights at Changi Airport. And we continue to improve capabilities.”
Teo was briefed on Monday about the anti-drone measures put into effect after operations at the airport were halted twice in June 2019.
In the first incident between June 18 and 19, unauthorized drones caused delays in 37 flights and affected operations on one of the two Changi runways for short periods.
On June 24, some 15 departures and three arrivals were delayed, and another seven flights were diverted due to bad weather and unauthorized drone activities.
Teo, who is the Coordinating Minister of National Security, visited a radar near the airport runway that was installed after June 2019 to detect drones.
Radar is among the sensors installed to provide early warning of such illegal drone operations. Reporters also saw officers wearing a radio frequency jammer and law enforcement officers on the ground who were deployed.
Mr. Teo also visited a command and control center for the detection and management of drones at the airport.
He noted that drone intrusions are an evolving and difficult problem to solve, with many airports around the world, including Singapore, testing and testing methods to counter them.
Apprehending roving drone operators requires a “well-integrated multi-agency approach,” he said.
“That implies the ability of the Changi airport to detect the drones and have a very tight operational loop with the police and other agencies on the ground, to be able to locate and detain the perpetrators so that we can prevent this from happening,” he added. added.
The hope is that there is no need to catch anyone, he said, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has been engaging the drone community to ensure its devices are used safely.
“We encourage drone operators to check the (CAAS) website so that when they operate drones they can do so safely and within the law. I think that’s best for everyone.”
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