Fans Flying Drones Disrupt Airport Near UK’s Download Festival - “It's A Criminal Offence”

According to the UK’s Daily Mail, rock fans flying drones to film a heavy metal festival one mile away from East Midlands Airport have forced it to close, adding to the misery of holiday goers this summer.

The Download festival, a three-day rock and heavy metal extravaganza, is taking place until Sunday at Donington Park in Leicestershire, about one mile (1.6km) from the airport. 

But drones attributed to the festival forced the diversion of eight flights on Friday evening and the closure of the runway. 

Clare James, the airport's managing director, said: “It's a criminal offence, it is very inconvenient for passengers, it costs thousands of pounds for cargo carriers but most of all it is a flight safety risk.”

The airport's runway was closed for an hour from 11.15pm and six passenger and two cargo flights were forced to reroute. 

In a joint statement on Friday, the police, airport and festival team said: “Both the festival organisers and the police have enhanced the number of patrols on site and the surrounding areas. The public are reminded that flying a drone in proximity to an operational airport is an offence under the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and is a huge risk to public safety. The police will take appropriate action if necessary.”

This year’s Download festival featured Iron Maiden, KISS and Megadeth among the headliners.