Gatwick beats the drone
Gatwick beats the drone thebritishherald
Flights have resumed at Gatwick after another drone sighting forced the airport to shut its runway yet again tonight.
Planes were grounded again at 5pm tonight, throwing passengers into fresh chaos just days before Christmas as the drone pilot responsible for the havoc remained at large.
One flight from Morocco appeared to be just moments away from landing when it was forced to divert only 1,000 feet above the ground tonight while other passengers were sitting ready for take-off when pilots told them of another sighting.
At least 25 flights were cancelled with others severely delayed while trackers suggested planes were being diverted to Stansted, Luton and Heathrow after the last plane landed at Gatwick at 4.59pm.
Just over an hour later Gatwick said planes had returned to the air, saying the ‘military measures in place at the airport’ would ensure the safety of passengers.
The Army had earlier used jamming devices in the hope of knocking the drone out of the sky as police scoured the Sussex countryside in a bit to find the culprit.
Police said they were closing in on the pilots who used ‘multiple’ drones to shut down Gatwick’s runway and even taunted officers by zooming over their heads while flashing lights at them.
Detectives have identified ‘persons of interest’ but have failed to make any arrests 48 hours after the chaos began.
As the crisis entered a third day:
- 20 police units from two different forces and three helicopters are hunting for the drone gang
- Police needed the Army to bring in anti-drone weapons including a jammer capable of knocking it out of the sky;
- Flights resumed this morning but almost 150 flights were cancelled on Friday even before the latest
sighting, after 760 were grounded yesterday; - Experts said the saboteur and any accomplices would have needed sophisticated modification or hacking to bypass airport security;
- A lone wolf eco-warrior or activists from a climate change group are the prime suspects – but remain on the run
- Police said the drone had been sighted 50 times since the runway at Gatwick was first closed on Wednesday night ;
- There were calls for tougher legislation against criminal drone pilots, who can only be jailed for up to five years in the UK.
