ORKNEY is at the centre of an airspace closure drama over the discovery of an unexploded torpedo.
Airport passengers have been warned of the closure between 11:30am and 2.30pm on Friday due to a fishing boat landing the explosive on shore near the airport.
Loganair, which operates the Orkney Interisland service, which includes flights from Kirkwall to the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, says that a controlled explosion is now needed.
In a message to customers, the operator says: " If you are flying in or out of Kirkwall with us tomorrow, please do check your flight status before leaving for the airport, as delays will be inevitable.
"We apologise for the inconvenience from this little bombshell…"
It comes after a live Second World War torpedo, found at Scapa Flow, was blown up in June by a Royal Navy explosives disposal team.
The British Mark VIII torpedo was spotted by Orkney company Sula Diving during a Scapa Flow underwater salvage sites survey which they were carrying out with Orca Marine for Historic Environment Scotland.
The project was to determine how much remains of the many vessels of the German high seas fleet which were salvaged in the years that followed their scuttling in June 1919, and officials carried out a side scan sonar survey of the main anchorages.
The sonar picked up the torpedo, which was 100ft deep, heavily rusted and in bits, but the presence of white material indicated it was still live.
Royal Navy top brass were at Scapa Flow during the summer for the 100th anniversary commemorations of the scuttling of fifty vessels from the German fleet in Gutter Sound.
They were informed of the discovery as the commemorations were reaching an end and took the decision to sanction Shetland coastguard to impose an exclusion zone around the site, between Cava Island and Hoy.
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