‘No fly, no sail zone’ back over northern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The “no fly, no sail, and no fishing zone” is back over Luzon Friday as North Korea was reported to have launched its rocket.

The ban, ordered by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), was imposed Thursday and lifted at about 1 p.m.

It seeks to prevent any disaster that may be caused by the rocket debris expected to fall within the 590 square kilometer rectangular “exclusionary zone” just 190 kilometers east of Cagayan Valley province in Northern Luzon.

The spent empty casing of the second stage booster is expected to crash into the ocean three to four hours after being jettisoned from the main rocket, Maximo Sacro, a founding member of the Philippine Astronomical Society, had said.

Reports said that North Korea launched its rocket at  07:39 a.m. (2239 GMT Thursday),” a defense ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

Aircraft that will be flying through the exclusionary zone have been advised to take alternate routes while the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy conduct sweeping operations to ensure that no one and nothing will be in harm’s way.