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Gatwick Airport: Drone sightings halt flights

Flights at Gatwick Airport have been suspended amid reports of drones being flown over the airfield

Passengers faced delays and diversions after two of the unmanned devices were spotted near a runway.

Those due to take off said their planes were stuck on the Tarmac, while some due to land at Gatwick said their flights were redirected to airports hundreds of miles away.

The airport warned the disruption could continue into Thursday

A spokesman confirmed there were no flights in or out of the airport, and that it was working with Sussex Police to investigate the drone sightings.

He apologised for any inconvenience but said safety was Gatwick's "foremost priority".

Those heading to the airport to travel or meet relatives have been advised to check the status of their flights first.

Social media users spoke of flights being diverted to other UK airports, including London Heathrow, Luton and Manchester.

Rashna Havewalla said she and her fellow passengers were sat waiting inside their aircraft at Manchester.

While Richard Hargreaves' easyJet flight was redirected to Birmingham, with those on board waiting to fly back to Gatwick.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46623754

Ten thousand passengers affected after drone sightings trigger disruption at Gatwick Airport

Gatwick's runway remains closed after two of the devices were seen nearby

Gatwick's chief operating officer said drones had been spotted over the airport as recent as 07:00 GMT

He told the BBC that police did not want to shoot the drones down because of the risk from stray bullets

Passengers due to travel have been told to check the status of their flight

Sussex Police: 'Nothing to suggest that this is terrorism-related'

Gatwick drone: Sussex Police carrying out search

Gatwick airport is a great many miles from London down in sunny Sussex, I have NO idea why they now call it London Gatwick

Another drone has been seen near Gatwick in the past hour and there is still no time set for the airport to reopen, its chief operating officer said on Thursday.

“It is clearly our intention to get open again, but only when it is safe to do so,” Chris Woodroofe told the BBC.

“Currently, we have had within the last hour another drone sighting, and so at this stage we are not open and I cannot tell you what time we will open.”

Did these drones wear yellow vests ?

The Army has deployed "specialist equipment" to Gatwick Airport as the travel chaos caused by drone activity shows no sign of abating.

It comes as Easyjet has cancelled all of its flights from Gatwick for the rest of the day.

The airline, the biggest operator at the airport, said there was "no indication" when Gatwick would reopen.

Tens of thousands of passengers on several airlines have been disrupted by drones flying over the airport.

In a tweet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson had confirmed the military deployment.

He said: "The armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something we would usually deploy but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity."

Passengers being sent to other airports by coach

Now we know who the guilty party is

Click to enlarge

Two arrested over flight disruption

Two people have been arrested in connection with a string of drone sightings which brought Gatwick Airport to a standstill

Sussex Police said it made the arrests at about 22:00 GMT on Friday.

Flights from Gatwick were grounded for more than a day after the devices were seen near the runway.

The force said "pro-active" investigations into "the criminal use of drones" continued, and urged the public to contact it with information.

Police have yet to disclose the ages and genders of those arrested and where they were apprehended.

Supt James Collis said officers remained at the airport, ready to "detect and mitigate" further drone flights by deploying a range of tactics.

He asked passengers and people living nearby to remain vigilant and report any suspicions.

"Every line of inquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers," he added.

Gatwick reopened on Friday morning after dozens of flights were disrupted, affecting more than 100,000 travellers.

The runway was closed again for a short time after a further confirmed sighting at 17:10.

A spokeswoman for the airport said military measures put in place at the airfield made it safe to reopen.

Eleven inbound flights were diverted to other airports during the latest suspension and, while outbound flights would experience a "knock-on delay", none had been cancelled, she said.

However, the BBC has been contacted by people claiming their flights were cancelled.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46657505

Gatwick drones pair 'no longer suspects'

A man and woman arrested in connection with drone sightings that grounded flights at Gatwick Airport have been released without charge

The 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman, from Crawley, West Sussex, had been arrested on Friday night.

Sussex Police said there had been 67 reports of drone sightings - having earlier cast doubt on "genuine drone activity".

Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley said no footage of a drone had been obtained.

And he said there was "always a possibility" the reported sightings of drones were mistaken.

However, he later confirmed the reported sightings made by the public, police and airport staff from December 19 to 21 were being "actively investigated".

"We are interviewing those who have reported these sightings, are carrying out extensive house-to-house inquiries, and carrying out a forensic examination of a damaged drone found near the perimeter of the airport."

Det Ch Supt Tingley said it was "a working assumption" the device could be connected to their investigation, but officers were keeping "an open mind".

Flights were suspended for more than 36 hours when a device was first spotted close to the runway on Wednesday night.

Det Ch Supt Tingley said the arrested man and woman had "fully co-operated" with inquiries after information was received from a member of the public.

Talking about the disclosure of their personal details in the press, he said he was satisfied their arrest was lawful, and stressed that officers would never reveal such information.

He added: "We would not have chosen in any event to provide that information to anyone... and one might say that's probably hindered us in terms of how quickly we've been able to get to a resolution, in terms of them being released from custody."

Gatwick Airport Limited has now offered a £50,000 reward through Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for disrupting flights.

About 1,000 aircraft were either cancelled or diverted, affecting about 140,000 passengers, during three days of disruption.

On Sunday the airport said it was operating as normal but there had been "some knock-on effect". Passengers have been urged to check with their airline for the latest information.

Authorities finally regained control over the airfield early on Friday after the Army deployed unidentified military technology.

It is believed that the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can jam communications between the drone and its operator, was used.

However, experts have said it does not enable the person responsible to be tracked down and captured.

John Murray, professor of robotics and autonomous systems at the University of Hull, said it could only "take the drone out of the sky".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46665615