British plane spotters arrested in United Arab Emirates

Three British plane spotters have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over allegations of suspicious behaviour.

The men from Greater Manchester and another expat have been told they were arrested because of "national security", one family member said.

Conrad Clitheroe, 54, Gary Cooper, 45, and Neil Munro were reportedly taking notes near Fujairah Airport, about 80 miles (130km) from Dubai.

They were arrested on 22 February.

'Using a telescope'
Mr Clitheroe, from Stockport, Mr Cooper, from Reddish in Stockport and Mr Munro, originally from Manchester, are being held at Fujairah prison, Mr Clitheroe's wife Valerie said.

They were near Fujairah Airport where older and rarer aircraft can be seen.

A local police official said the men had been taking photographs near an airport and were using a telescope.

The group attracted suspicion and were taken to a police station for questioning, where their belongings were searched.

Mrs Clitheroe said: " I have spoken to him three times since his arrest last week - he is really upset, really sorry for upsetting me.

"They are shocked.... It is a case of national security."

Mr Clitheroe and Mr Cooper had been visiting their friend Mr Munro and were due to return home on the day they were arrested.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the arrest of three British nationals in Dubai on 22 February.

"We are providing consular assistance at this time."

I feel sorry for these guys! but UAE authorities are very strict after Flydubai aircraft shoted by bullet in Baghdad few weeks ago. in the UK you have to get the Licence to do Plane Spotting. The UK Plane Spotting Licence can be applied through Police Authorities who will hold your passport copies etc .. What's a status in Colombo Airport? I think Colombo Airport authorities are closing the Aviation Spectators Gallery to build the new terminal. Not sure where they are going to move new Aviation Spectators Gallery though.

Hi flylanka, EK056, 330_340 - What's a procedure for Plane Spotting in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Singapore etc. ? Do we need any licence or anything?

Still in CMB a lot of ancient no-photo warnings exist, then again, I don't want to dispute how taking a picture can be a security threat

SG, none, and the approach path to 02C/02L, or 20C/20R are easily visible, from the beach on either side.

it is common to see a few guys snapping away, and the only change done post 9/11 is to fence up the sides of the runways, which were places where you could spot the touch down zones

In the terminal building, you do see spotters jotting down info, and nobody bothers

Same rules for the Other Air base, primarily used by Exec-Jets and T-Props/Eurocopter/Bell - Seletar. No restrictions

Though a few aviation companies like RR, Nordam, Setsco, EC, Bell restrict camera phones, been there for various reasons and either was asked to surrender my camera phones or a sticker was placed to cover the lens !

Manila too has very few restrictions as well !

TR 320, a Fedex 767, and the TAM 773W (SIN)



A UPS 767, with a Scoot 772 (SIN)



A Tri-MG 737F, with the UPS and Scoot Birds ! (SIN)



Two Silkair 320s (SIN)

Air Asia Philippines 320 Flaring for touch down (MNL)




SQ 330-300 (SIN)



A TAM 777-300ER, a long way from Home !! (SIN)

hi Banu in AKL no licence req'd. However, when you are taking shots near the Air NZ engineering services (near the hangar) area you have to be careful as some of the security gaurds may do a routine check on you. There is a Scenic lookout where you planes take off and land... no restrictions at all.

No as long as you are in designated areas and make no trouble.. free to spot and take pics and have fun.

I quite surprised to see TAM in Singapore. Is it a charter or schedule flight? I know SQ serve Sao Poulo in Brazil. Looks like there is a good passenger demand between Brazil and Singapore. Please shed some light about this TAM flight in Singapore?

Hallo,
you make only a licence for Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget).

I doubt it was Charter or Scheduled, though there are enough Singaporean Investments in Offshore and Oil in Latin America, and Singapore is world's largest Oil Rig Builder, there is not enough traffic for a scheduled flight

I suspect this to be a Maintenance flight, for C / D checks.

Manila - A Philippine Airforce S70-A-5 of the Presidential Air Lift Wing (yep, the Presidential Fleet has better kit, vs the regular Forces having UH1s and such ... )



Manila - A G200 with the PR / Macro Aviation cluttering of PR Tails in the background



Manila - A better view of the Indonesian President’s BBJ



Sorry for the lousy picture, but thats’ a AS355 doing a corporate shuttle in Makati !



Singapore, A China Airlines 330,



Singapore, A Air Asia 320

Hallo,
here is a smal Trip Report from Zurich.

The first Photos is from the car park P3 (from 6AM to 9AM).
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-841 9V-SKR


American Airlines Boeing 767-323(ER) N386AA


Swiss Airbus A330-343E HB-JHF


From 9Am to midday is the best time for observation deck Dock B
US Airways Boeing 767-201(ER) N248AY


Swiss Airbus A340-313X HB-JMC


Observation deck Dock E
Aeroflot Airbus A320-214 VQ-BEH


KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 737-7K2 PH-BGD


At midday, you drive to Heliport.
Private Boeing 737-2W8 Adv. VP-CBA


Emirates Boeing 777-31H(ER) A6-ECH


Qatar Airways Airbus A330-202 A7-ACG


thanks for looking.

Looks like a non-Stage III Hush Kit 737 !

Must have been screaming on take off !!!

I am also wondering who is the owner of above B737-200? EKO56 could you please confirm? What'a a rego of this bird.
These B737-200s does scream alot when they take off. B737-200 is one of the noisiest aircraft like B727, B767, MD80 etc.. I remember the old days when i do plane spotting in chennai, Alliance Air and Indian Airlines used to fly approx 10 of these B737-200s to destinations like Vizag, Tirupathi, Mangalore etc.. Nice to see this old birdie (B737-200) still flying. She seems to be well maintained.

The last owner,war Sky Aviation .
As I know, it was stored.