Belgium Drones - Brussels Airport Shutdown

[flarkey]

Two questions.
Can you often find helicopter etc. on adsbexchange.com when it's not on FR24?
How much is the price for historical data ?

Most Military aircraft aren't shown on FR24. Some are on ADSBx but not all (depends on the county). So if it is a military helicopter you've a better chance of seeing it on ADSBx but its not a guarantee.

ADSB playback for 3 years is Free.

 

[jarlrmai]

The other turn is better fit but I cannot make it work with the building alignment, could be location but to me it seems that aircraft is closer and over the hangar

Here's my sitrec with buildings added:

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...ws.com/11433/brussels helo/20251105_142123.js

The aircraft track is really poor and has this section where the helo is giving a ground location all over the airport, perhaps this section is what we see in the video and the data is just wrong.

 

[flarkey]

I have removed some of the points on the MLAT Track to give a smoothed plot, and have also included some of the aircraft on ground that might be in the video.

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...naws.com/15857/BrusselsG16/20251105_170600.js

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...naws.com/15857/BrusselsG16/20251105_143755.js

 

[Calter]

I think a better match is the one passing at 20:37 UTC

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...drone belgium november 4th/20251105_143924.js

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2025-11-04-20:37&lat=50.907&lon=4.510&zoom=13.0

The only thing that doesn't match in the sitrec is the part where ADS-B is dodgy (the simulation has the helicopter move in a straight line and then double back where in the video it's moving to the left)

 

[flarkey]

I think a better match is the one passing at 20:37 UTC

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=https://sitrec.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/20014/drone belgium november 4th/20251105_143924.js

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2025-11-04-20:37&lat=50.907&lon=4.510&zoom=13.0

View attachment 85557

The only thing that doesn't match in the sitrec is the part where ADS-B is dodgy (the simulation has the helicopter move in a straight line and then double back where in the video it's moving to the left)

See my previous post. I manually edited the kml file to remove those outlying plot points to give a (slightly) smoother track.

 

[Calter]

As I post this, metabunk updated the thread showing this was discussed, not sure why it didn't show it before since I had refreshed before posting just to make sure.

I'll also point out that allegedly the video was taken from the tower, which would put the camera here

 

[ThomasH]

Most Military aircraft aren't shown on FR24. Some are on ADSBx but not all (depends on the county). So if it is a military helicopter you've a better chance of seeing it on ADSBx but its not a guarantee.

ADSB playback for 3 years is Free.

DOH!! I couldn't find it, found it now, thanks.

 

[Calter]

I have removed some of the points on the MLAT Track to give a smoothed plot, and have also included some of the aircraft on ground that might be in the video.

Could you try removing it so that it follows the green path (i'm not sure how to edit the MLAT track myself)

 

[mvdb22]

The video of which many media say a drone can be seen is in fact a helicopter of the Belgium police. Factcheck here https://feitoffake.wordpress.com/20...copter-for-a-large-drone-at-brussels-airport/

 

[jarlrmai]

Yeah that's the most likely conclusion however the fact checking taking place here is just a bit more detailed, as in trying to match the video to flight tracking data essentially to see what time it was specifically and also provide a better match than approximate data

Unfortunately the flight data is too messy to make this easy.

 

[Calter]

Not that I disagree with the conclusion, but that fact check is no more of a confirmation than what we are doing here.

Given how spotty the helicopter data is, to truly be confirmed, we'd need the source of the video to provide the time. Until then, many people that think airports are constantly being invaded by giant drones will just dismiss it.

 

[mvdb22]

The location of the ATC control tower is not at the terminal area but east of runway 01-19

 

[Calter]

I took the location from a reddit comment, and they just said tower, so I'm thinking it was taken from the Ramp Tower. The people in it are not ATC, they are the ones that control the ground.

I don't speak Dutch so I have trouble verifying this tower claim (maybe it's written in one of the videos, idk)

 

[jarlrmai]

The video shows a view of the terminal B gate structure and A400 hangar that seems to be from the tower structure here

 

[Mick West]

Hah, I missed all this discussion and just posted on X.

Source: https://x.com/MickWest/status/1986110248097341720

Carry on!

 

[iAlrakis]

Just like many of my colleagues (DHL), I wondered why the military, that could have gotten there in a minute, didn't blast this drone out of the sky.
This explains why

 

[Calter]

Does anyone know what this structure would be?

Based on this airport diagram from 2002, it was Control Tower 322

But in 2005 ATC moved their HQ to the actual tower that they built in 2004.

https://press.skeyes.be/20-years-of-belgocontrol

ChatGPT told me it might be a Ramp Tower, to help with ground control. But based on this page, Ground Control is also located in the new tower

https://www.skeyes.be/en/blog/safety_ebbr_tower/

Can anyone more familiar with airports or that can google things in Dutch figure out if that location is still in use, and if so, what is it used for?

 

[mvdb22]

It is the old control tower. Not in use anymore. Likely preserved for historical reasons when the terminal building was modernized. I do not think the video was made there but in another building

 

[jarlrmai]

It is the old control tower. Not in use anymore. Likely preserved for historical reasons when the terminal building was modernized. I do not think the video was made there but in another building View attachment 85571

Which building then?

 

[mvdb22]

Which building then?

Eeeeeehhhhh. Did you see that large image in the post you replied to? It has a RED ARROW pointing towards the answer to your question.

 

[jarlrmai]

That wasn't there on my phone, odd, apologies. How do you know it was from there do you have a source?

I don't think it can be from there tbh as you can see the near side of the terminal B gate building and that location is the wrong side of it.

 

[UAV Hive]

You're all spot on about G16, the media in Belgium should be ashamed, they've taken video, removed the audio and if you slow it down and increase the brightness it's clear the police helicopter has been recorded.

 

[Calter]

In the video you can see this change in building height

Which lines up with this part of the airport

So the location on the fact checker site doesn't really make sense

 

[jarlrmai]

In the video you can see this change in building height
View attachment 85572

Which lines up with this part of the airport
View attachment 85574

So the location on the fact checker site doesn't really make sense
View attachment 85575

Yeah that was my point it's taken from one of the upper floors of the buildings behind, the Deloitte gateway building makes the most sense.

But it could be the one next door

 

[jarlrmai]

You're all spot on about G16, the media in Belgium should be ashamed, they've taken video, removed the audio and if you slow it down and increase the brightness it's clear the police helicopter has been recorded.

What's your source video for this?

 

[iAlrakis]

Does anyone know what this structure would be?
View attachment 85569

Based on this airport diagram from 2002, it was Control Tower 322
View attachment 85570

But in 2005 ATC moved their HQ to the actual tower that they built in 2004.

https://press.skeyes.be/20-years-of-belgocontrol

ChatGPT told me it might be a Ramp Tower, to help with ground control. But based on this page, Ground Control is also located in the new tower

https://www.skeyes.be/en/blog/safety_ebbr_tower/

Can anyone more familiar with airports or that can google things in Dutch figure out if that location is still in use, and if so, what is it used for?

map from 2025:
https://media.brusselsairport.be/bruweb/default/0001/39/06021e16776da1147d80569a4138d7441be0e9a9.jpg

the area is labeled with 'compass' and 'VIP protocol' but i've no idea what that means in terms of use.

 

[jarlrmai]

That structure is the old control tower, the building was part of the airport, it;s now the Gateway office building and occupied by Deloitte

 

[Mick West]

So the location on the fact checker site doesn't really make sense

Yesh, the camera has to be near the old control tower. But maybe a bit south of it.

This is the view from a bit to the south of the control tower

 

[jarlrmai]

I still want @UAV Hive to post the orginal video he was working from because the version I am seeing everywhere does not match that level of quality.

 

[UAV Hive]

I still want @UAV Hive to post the orginal video he was working from because the version I am seeing everywhere does not match that level of quality.

It's from another publication in Belgium on YouTube:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2AkthRKvm6U

Incidentally I fear with HLN that it's muted the audio on their videos to prevent the rotor noise being heard, they've compressed their videos down so much it's impossible to recover any detail from the shadows. Great for the clicks but not for analysis....

 

[Mick West]

Stabilized on the chopper, so if we have a flight path we can maybe get a perfect match in Sitrec.

 

[jarlrmai]

We need the time, the track is really choppy.

 

[mvdb22]

Stabilized on the chopper, so if we have a flight path we can maybe get a perfect match in Sitrec.

The line of sight of the video is like in the image. Track of the heli in yellow line

 

[flarkey]

Beat me to it.

 

[mvdb22]

The only time I can find which makes sense with line of sight of video and direction of flight is around 20:51:42 UTC

 

[UAV Hive]

Stabilized on the chopper, so if we have a flight path we can maybe get a perfect match in Sitrec.

I noticed in that YouTube later on there's another clip of the helicopter so it may prove useful for a few extra seconds.

IGNORE THIS it looked to me when I double checked, like they repeated a section of the same clip later in the edit.

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

Idk if this helps with timing because it was parked there for a while and may not have left that evening, but the plane visible at the start is an Air Belgium plane, registered to Air Belgium, but operated under "Sichuan Logistics Industry Co" carrier, which is why it has this unique livery. It is a little hard to find info on this on FlightRadar24 because they don't appear to have a page for either Air Belgium or Sichuan Logistics Industry Co, but according to planespotters.net Sichuan Logistics only operates 1 aircraft, OO-LFC. It might be some kind of subsidiary or some other arrangement used for getting cargo from China, under a Belgian parent company.

Fleet:
https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Sichuan-Logistics-Industry-Company
Plane:
https://www.planespotters.net/photo...an-logistics-industry-company-boeing-747-87uf

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/oo-lfc

Its ADSB track in Brussels ended at 12:50 UTC (1:50PM local), on flight ABB871.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/oo-lfc#3cf4abaf

EDIT:
jetphotos has two planes listed for Sichuan Logistics Industry Co, OO-LFC and OE-LFC
https://www.jetphotos.com/airline/Sichuan+Logistics+(Air+Belgium)

But OE-LFC has no recent flights since August:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/oe-lfc

EDIT2:
Actually OE-LFC was re-registered as OO-LFC on Sept 1. The two registration numbers show the same serial number of 37562 in FR24 and jetphotos. So still just 1 plane. OE-LFC flights end Aug 31 and OO-LFC flights start Sep 1.

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

For that LOS onto the plane OO-LFC and the building on the ground, I think on top of the parking deck at 50°53'53.82"N, 4°28'56.34"E works using the angle of view onto the building in front of the airplane, and the locations of the light posts in relation to the building. Pretty much the same camera location @mvdb22 said.

 

[FatPhil]

Eeeeeehhhhh. Did you see that large image in the post you replied to? It has a RED ARROW pointing towards the answer to your question.

I took ages to find that even though you told me it's there to be found. Please don't forget that about a tenth of the male population has some form of colourblindness, most of which have problems with reds and/or greens (whatever that means, it's tom-ay-toes pot-ah-toes to me[*]).

[* my g/f tells me that this joke doesn't work, but how the heck would I know that, I'm bleedin' colourblind.]

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

There are 2 videos at the airport. Maybe we should be clear about which is being talked about.

One video contains a "HLN" overlay in the middle of the screen, which @flarkey posted sourced from the nu.nl website. It is also on the HLN website:
https://www.hln.be/binnenland/exclu...ventem-was-geen-toestel-van-amateur~a734120d/
This shows a view from the near/in what appears to be the old air traffic control tower integrated into one of the airport buildings, labeled "TWR (backup)" on this diagram at opennav.

https://opennav.com/airport/EBBR

~5 seconds in, a distinguishable roof feature is seen which locks in 1 line of sight.

Another drone video in this link, with better reference points.

https://www.nu.nl/321294/video/grote-drone-verstoort-vliegverkeer-bij-luchthaven-zaventem.html

View attachment 85522

There is another video linked to by @UAV Hive, uploaded by outlet NieuwsbladOnline, which is filmed from a different location, facing a different direction, initially facing towards an area that appears to be used by cargo planes, not near the main terminals. An Air Belgium plane operated by Sichuan Logistics registered as OO-LFC is visible on the ground at the start. I do not think it is possible that this was also filmed from the old ATC tower. The line of sight onto the building and light poles does not work. It has to be somewhere with a more westward line of sight onto the building, in a position pivoted counterclockwise around OO-LFC.

It's from another publication in Belgium on YouTube:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2AkthRKvm6U

Incidentally I fear with HLN that it's muted the audio on their videos to prevent the rotor noise being heard, they've compressed their videos down so much it's impossible to recover any detail from the shadows. Great for the clicks but not for analysis....

I am also revising my previous location for the camera for the NieuwsbladOnline video, from the parking deck, to instead be in the office building at around 50°53'54.29"N, 4°29'2.35"E. The western most corner, but probably the southwest face of the building.

Here are what I think are the two locations and lines of sight, onto the building+Sichuan Logistics plane in the NieuwsbladOnline video, and onto the step in the roof 5 seconds into the HLN video. These locations are far enough apart that they were either filmed moderately far apart in time, or were filmed by different people.