3 flights canceled at Okinawa Airport due to suspected drone flying nearby

NAHA three flights could not land at Naha Airport in Okinawa Prefecture on December 4 after a suspected drone was spotted flying nearby.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Naha Airport office received a report from a control tower at the airport at around 9: 30 p.m. A suspected drone is flying on the east side of the airport takeoffs and landings at the airport were suspended until around 10: 50 p.m. affecting three All Nippon Airways Co. ANA flights.

One of the disrupted planes that had left Fukuoka landed in the U.S. military's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, about 15 kilometers from Naha Airport, according to ANA and other sources. The aircraft stayed there for about 2 hours with passengers aboard before it took off at 4: 28 a.m. the next day and arrived at Naha Airport about 15 minutes later. The ministry office said it was rare for Japanese civilian aircraft to land at Kadena base, but there had been cases in the past where such aircraft had landed there for reasons such as Naha Airport's temporary runway closure.

Another airliner returned to Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, where it left Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and the flight was canceled, while another plane left Haneda Airport in Tokyo changed its destination to Kansai International Airport before arriving at Naha Airport at 2: 16 a.m. on December 5. Three aircraft of Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Transocean Air Co. were stuck in the air before arriving at Naha Airport behind schedule.

On receiving a report, the Okinawa Prefectural Police's Tomigusuku Police Station searched around the airport but didn't find anything.