Unidentified traffic alarm on radar at Sabiha Gökçen Airport! Radio communications revealed
Pilots taking off from Sabiha Gökçen Airport reported seeing unidentified traffic on their radar. Following the notification to air traffic controllers, a large-scale search was launched in the area. However, investigations failed to identify the source of the traffic.
İHA
Pilots using Sabiha Gökçen Airport received a traffic alert on their aircraft radar. Upon receiving the alert, the pilots notified air traffic control. Following the pilots' warning, checks conducted at sea, in the air, and on the ground failed to determine what caused the traffic alert seen on the system. After the pilots suggested that the traffic alert might have been caused by a ship at sea or a drone, the General Directorate of Coastal Safety and other teams conducted searches in the areas. No negative findings were encountered during the searches. It has not yet been clarified what caused the traffic alert seen on the radar over the weekend. Those moments were recorded in radio communications.
Pilot: “We received a traffic alert at 300 feet on final approach; it could be a drone or another aircraft. For your information.”
Tower: “Sir, all aircraft have been reporting this alert since this morning. It has been reported to the authorities, and searches are also being conducted from the sea. However, it has not been found yet.”
Tower: “Sir, we have been dealing with this for 2.5 hours; many flights before you also reported this, and we have notified the coastal safety authorities. We suspect it is likely from a ship at sea.”
Tower: “By the way, for your information, the flights before you received a traffic alarm on the approach path to the airport at around 2.5 miles, which they suspect is likely coming from a ship. Could you please report back after observing the situation?”
Pilot: “We see traffic descending 500 feet below us; it appears as unidentified traffic to us as well. We are currently tracking traffic 5 miles ahead of us. We also received this alert on our previous flight.”