Drone (illustration)
Drone (illustration)Kobi Richter/TPS

At about 7:20 p.m. Sunday evening, a drone was spotted hovering over the Terminal 3 building at Ben Gurion International Airport.

The incident took place shortly after Vice President Mike Pence disembarked from Air Force Two.

As a result, air traffic was halted for ten minutes as standard procedure for identifying objects above the airfield. Departures and landings resumed after suspicion of a safety or security incident was ruled out.

The Airports Authority views the use of drones in the airport area as a serious offense, and emphasizes that it is strictly forbidden to fly in the airport area.

Following the incident this evening, a complaint was sent to the Israel Police and an operational debriefing was held.

This is not the first time drones have penetrated Israeli airport airspace. Just last month, an unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft penetrated the airspace over Ben Gurion Airport just after midnight, forcing a temporary shutdown of the airport to both departing and arriving flights