Unidentified object alert halts flights at airport

GAZİANTEP

Flights at the Gaziantep Airport were stopped for about 12 hours, while 26 flights were canceled after an unidentified object was reported in the airspace.

An unidentified object was detected by the cockpit crew of two passenger planes at an altitude of approximately 9,000 feet (2,743 meters) in the southern province of Gaziantep at around midnight on May 20.

The pilots reported the situation to Gaziantep Air Traffic Control Tower. It is learned from officials that air traffic controllers also confirmed the unidentified object.

Upon the incident, flights were suspended at Gaziantep Airport. Some planes scheduled to land at Gaziantep were diverted to airports in other southern provinces, such as Şanlıurfa and Adana.

A total of 26 flights, 13 departures and 13 landings were canceled. Flights returned to normal after about 12 hours at the airport, where hundreds of passengers were waiting.

Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul Airport and AnadoluJet flights from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Gaziantep were delayed. Both flights departed from Istanbul at around noon hours.

According to the information received from Gaziantep Airport State Airports Authority (DHMI) Chief Directorate, Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) was not published.

NOTAM is a warning broadcast made in order to announce the existence of any work, service, method, or danger and any changes in time to officials related to flight operations.