Lyce · Hybrid Watch

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Haugesund Airport airspace temporarily closed after suspected drone sighting.

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On 16 October 2022, the airspace over Haugesund Airport Karmøy was temporarily closed after a suspected drone sighting in south-western Norway. The initial observation was made near Stavanger Airport Sola, where pilots from a departing aircraft reported seeing an object they believed to be a drone. As a precaution, Avinor closed the airspace over Stavanger and then also closed the nearby airspace over Haugesund Airport Karmøy because of the same observation. Both airports were reopened at around 21:40 local time after authorities assessed the airspace as safe. Norwegian reporting later clarified that Haugesund was affected as part of the same aviation-safety response, not because of a separate confirmed drone sighting directly over Haugesund Airport. Police searched for the drone and operator, but the object was not confirmed or identified. The incident occurred during a wider period of heightened concern over suspicious drone activity near Norwegian airports, offshore sites and critical energy infrastructure. However, this specific Haugesund-related closure was not officially attributed to Russia, so it should be marked as “Fitting the pattern”, not “Officially attributed.”

Occurrence
Publication
First observed
Review status
Not assessed
Countries
Norway
Updated

Attribution

Pattern-compatible

Facts

No facts

Sources

  1. Role
    Discovery lead
    Publication

    On 16 October 2022, the airspace over Haugesund Airport Karmøy was temporarily closed after a suspected drone sighting in south-western Norway. The initial observation was made near Stavanger Airport Sola, where pilots from a departing aircraft reported seeing an object they believed to be a drone. As a precaution, Avinor closed the airspace over Stavanger and then also closed the nearby airspace over Haugesund Airport Karmøy because of the same observation. Both airports were reopened at around 21:40 local time after authorities assessed the airspace as safe. Norwegian reporting later clarified that Haugesund was affected as part of the same aviation-safety response, not because of a separate confirmed drone sighting directly over Haugesund Airport. Police searched for the drone and operator, but the object was not confirmed or identified. The incident occurred during a wider period of heightened concern over suspicious drone activity near Norwegian airports, offshore sites and critical energy infrastructure. However, this specific Haugesund-related closure was not officially attributed to Russia, so it should be marked as “Fitting the pattern”, not “Officially attributed.”