A Chinese woman was detained and arrested by military police in Norway on Thursday after she allegedly took photos and videos from her plane window of an airport in the far north of the country.
The woman was a passenger onboard a Norwegian Airlines flight from Oslo to Harstad/Narvik Airport in Evenes, which is a shared airfield with both civilian operations and a significant military base.
The Norwegian Air Force has a squadron of F-35 fighter jets at the base on a 15-minute rapid reaction standby for NATO, as well as P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
The airbase is generally considered one of the most important for the Norwegian military, and officials have a strict photography ban in force. The ban extends to passengers on civilian aircraft taking photos or videos out of their plane windows while taking off and landing at Harstad.
Onboard Norwegian flight DY8416 on Thursday, witnesses say cabin crew made announcements in both English and Norwegian, informing them of the photography ban but a Chinese passenger seemingly ignored the warning and proceeded to take photos using her mobile phone.
Upon landing, the woman allegedly continued to take photos and sent messages in Chinese. Officials were alerted, and she was detained just as she left the airport.
The operator of the civilian side of the airfield says there are warning signs posted around the airport but that incidents in which passengers ignore the photography ban are an almost daily occurrence.
In most cases, the police aren’t called and it remains unclear what action authorities have taken against the Chinese woman in this case.
There are several photo of mainly the terminal interior but some ramp photos on Google (not just Google search but the business listing of the airport by Google). Google maps shows some military facilities at the southern end of the airport, including bunkers and 2 F-16’s on a ramp angled towards the runway. No secret.
True, I suppose they don’t want photos taken to be on the safe side but likely there is minimal military value of these photos. Over time, serial photos could show what planes are on the ramp, I suppose.
Norway needs to take a step back from trying to be like India in this regard. The photo ban is ineffective and should be scrapped for being nothing but a dog and pony show with regard to security interests given the airport’s set up.
Any half-competent intelligence agent from even a tin-pot banana republic could manage to take photos from these flights despite the ban.