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Two arrests over London airport drone chaos as flights resume
GATWICK AIRPORT, United Kingdom, Dec 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Two people were
arrested in connection with the “criminal use of drones” at London Gatwick
Airport, police said Saturday, after three days of disruption affected tens
of thousands of passengers during the pre-Christmas getaway.
Drones were first sighted hovering around Britain’s second-busiest air hub
on Wednesday, grinding the runway to a standstill and causing chaos for more
than 120,000 people.
“As part of our ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones
which has severely disrupted flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, Sussex
Police made two arrests just after 10:00pm (2200 GMT) on December 21,” the
force’s Superintendent James Collis said.
“Every line of enquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that
we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers.”
Police urged passengers and the public to remain vigilant around the
airport, south of London, and report any further sightings.
Flights resumed on Friday after a new drone sighting briefly forced planes
to be grounded as a “precautionary measure”, a Gatwick spokesman said.
Sussex Police said officers had been using “a range of tactics” to hunt for
the mystery drone operators and “build resilience to detect and mitigate
further incursions” from the device.
The dangers posed by drones include the possibility of a device smashing
into a passenger plane or being sucked up into an engine where its highly
flammable lithium battery could cause a catastrophe.
– Widespread disruption –
Passengers, many trying to get home for Christmas or to start their
holidays, were advised to check the status of their flights before travelling
to the airport.
On Friday morning a Gatwick spokesman said 91 of the day’s 412 scheduled
arrivals had been cancelled, while 64 of 371 scheduled departures had also
been scrapped.
MORE/MR/ 1030 hrs
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The army was called in on Thursday to offer support, with the defence
ministry deploying what was described only as specialist equipment.
“There are a range of measures which are there today which should give
passengers confidence that they are safe to fly,” Transport Secretary Chris
Grayling told the BBC on Friday.
Government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation.
– Cat and mouse chase –
There had been more than 50 sightings of the device or devices since the
first reports at 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday and shooting down the drone
had been considered as an option, said Jason Tingley of Sussex Police.
“We will do what we can to take that drone out of the sky and remove that
disruption,” he said.
Justin Burtenshaw, head of armed policing for Sussex and Surrey said on
Thursday: “Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone
disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield the drone reappears”.
Sussex Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said officers were
working on the theory there was more than one drone.
Before Friday’s sighting at 5:10 pm (1710 GMT), a drone had last been
spotted at around 10:00 pm (2200 GMT) on Thursday.
– ‘We’re in limbo’ –
Some 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night, and a further
110,000 who had been due to either take off or land at the airport on 760
flights Thursday.
Mike, from London, had his flight cancelled on Friday and will miss his
connection to Ghana.
“We’re in limbo. We don’t actually know when we’ll be flying out at all
because we haven’t been promised a rescheduled flight, we haven’t been
promised any further information, any compensation. Nothing at all.”
Darcis, 32, who was supposed to arrive from Milan on Thursday and had to
sleep at the airport, said: “I cannot understand why such a small thing can
cause an international airport like Gatwick (to close). They should be ready
for these things. I really don’t understand what we can do.”
The drama dominated Britain’s newspapers on Friday, with speculation that
an eco-activist was responsible.
Gatwick, around 30 miles (50 kilometres) south of the British capital, is
the eighth-busiest airport in Europe and sits behind Mumbai as the world’s
busiest single-runway air hub.
Inbound flights were diverted to other airports, including Paris, while
passengers waiting to take off faced gruelling delays.
Under a new British law, drones cannot be flown near aircraft or within a
kilometre of an airport, or at an altitude of over 400 feet (122 metres).
Violators face up to five years in prison for endangering an aircraft.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1030 hrs