From drone incursions to squeezed flight paths, airline pilots are facing escalating risks as a war rages in the Middle East, with Iran retaliating against strikes by the United States and Israel that killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The war has filled the skies above several of the world’s busiest airports with hundreds of ballistic missiles and attack drones.
Iran’s retaliation against the United States and its partners has included strikes on airports, forcing many flights to stop operations from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
Only a small number of rescue flights have been able to operate.
Several pilots, along with more than half a dozen aviation and security sources, said the number of conflicts across regions such as Ukraine, Afghanistan and Israel has put greater pressure on pilots. They said crews now have to deal with limited airspace and the growing presence of military drones operating far away from active battle zones.
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Fear and anxiety amid global conflicts
Tanja Harter, a pilot who has worked in the Middle East and president of the European Cockpit Association, told news agency Reuters, “We are not military pilots. We are not trained to deal with these kinds of threats in the air.”
She said the Middle East conflict is the latest in a series of security challenges the aviation sector has faced over the years, which could lead to fear and anxiety among pilots.
She added that airlines now often run peer support programmes to assist pilots. As a pilot herself, she said she would not want to “share airspace with missiles.”
‘Fly higher to avoid missiles’
Pilots trained in the Middle East have grown used to handling emergency situations, the head of Lebanon’s civil aviation authority said.
A pilot at Middle East Airlines, who has ten years of experience, told Reuters that flights to Beirut have become harder to manage.
Earlier, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon usually had a range of 15,000 feet. To remain safe, pilots would climb higher to stay beyond that distance. Aircraft also often carried extra fuel in case they had to divert to another airport.
Even so, most missile strikes occur far enough away to avoid posing a direct danger. Pilots are also usually too busy during flights to focus on them.
Not just Middle East, drones have affected European airports too
The threat is not limited to the Middle East. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drones have become an important weapon for both sides.
Airports in European cities such as Stockholm and Munich have reported drone disruptions, which are suspected, though not confirmed, to be linked to the conflict.
Airline Captain Christian von D’Ahe, who has worked as a commercial pilot for 15 years and head of the Danish Air Line Pilots Association, said the rising risk is worrying.
“Drones are not easily detected,” Von D’Ahe said. “We can see them in the air, and they’re very small. So sooner or later, something will happen.”
If drones hit an aircraft’s engines, it could lead to a complete loss of power. Damage to the wings could also affect a plane’s ability to manoeuvre.
Most registered aircraft send signals through a transponder, a device that allows radar systems to identify them. Drones do not send such signals, leaving pilots unable to track them. Standard airport radar systems also struggle to detect drones. Specialised radar systems do exist, but these are usually run by law enforcement agencies or the military.
What can airports do then in such cases?
Airports can rely on radar systems, frequency sensors and jamming tools to counter drones. Some systems can also “spoof” drones and push them off their path. However, safety rules prevent airports from shooting drones down.
Tim Friebe, an air traffic controller in Germany and vice president of the Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC), said drones were a “threat that is growing.” He added that airports often have limited options to respond.
“For now we have reports, pilot reports, or sometimes controllers spot drones. The problem is there’s not much you can do except shutting down the airport,” he said.
Moritz Burger, a commercial pilot based in Germany, recalled noticing an object that looked like a balloon with a structure underneath while preparing to land at a European airport.
“I was looking out of the window and suddenly there appeared an object that passed by just below our aircraft. We could see it for maybe one, maximum two seconds,” he told the news agency, adding it shook him and left him no time to take any action.
“When you encounter such a near-miss or some passing object, there is not enough time to react. So it is unrealistic to expect that pilots could fly around such an object. There’s pretty much nothing we can do.”
With inputs from Reuters