GATWICK AIRPORT:Two people have been arrested in connection with the "criminal use ofdrones" at London's Gatwick Airport, police said yesterday, after threedays of disruption affected tens of thousands of passengers during thepre-Christmas getaway. Drones were first sighted buzzing around Britain'ssecond-busiest air hub on Wednesday, forcing the runway to close and causingchaos for more than 140,000 people.
"As part ofour ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones which has severelydisrupted flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, Sussex Police made two arrestsjust after 10:00pm on December 21," the force's Superintendent JamesCollis said. "Every line of enquiry will remain open to us until we areconfident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety ofpassengers." A Gatwick spokesman said the airport planned to run a fullschedule of 757 flights carrying 124,484 passengers yesterday. But he warnedthat passengers should expect some delays and cancellations "as wecontinue to recover our operations following three days of disruption".
Police urgedpassengers and the public to remain vigilant around the airport, south ofLondon, and report any further drone sightings. Flights resumed on Friday but were briefly halted after a new dronesighting forced planes to be grounded as a precautionary measure. Sussex Policesaid officers had been using "a range of tactics" to hunt for themystery drone operators and "build resilience to detect and mitigatefurther incursions". The dangers posed by drones include the possibilityof a device smashing into a passenger plane or being sucked up into an enginewhere its highly flammable lithium battery could cause a catastrophe.
Widespreaddisruption
The army wascalled in on Thursday to offer support, with the defense ministry deployingwhat was described only as specialist equipment. "There are a range ofmeasures which are there today which should give passengers confidence that theyare safe to fly," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC onFriday. Government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss thesituation. The Times newspaper yesterday reported Grayling had shelved plansearlier this year to introduce laws regulating drone use despite being warnedabout the risk they posed to airports.
"We werepromised a new legislation back in 2017," Andy McDonald, the main LaborParty's transport spokesman, told BBC radio. "There's been a lack ofattention to this." Aviation minister Elizabeth Sugg said the governmentplanned to "introduce new laws to ensure that drones are used safely andresponsibly", according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Under a newBritish law, drones cannot be flown near aircraft or within a kilometer (abouthalf a mile) of an airport, or at an altitude of over 400 feet (122 meters).Violators face up to five years in prison for endangering an aircraft.
Cat and mousechase
There had beenmore than 50 sightings of the device or devices since the first reports at 9:00pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday and shooting down the drone had been considered asan option. Justin Burtenshaw, head of armed policing for Sussex and Surrey saidon Thursday: "Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the dronedisappears. When we look to reopen the airfield the drone reappears."Before Friday's sighting at 5:10 pm (1710 GMT), a drone had last been spottedat around 10:00 pm (2200 GMT) on Thursday. Mike, from London, had his flightcancelled on Friday and will miss his connection to Ghana.
"We're inlimbo. We don't actually know when we'll be flying out at all because wehaven't been promised a rescheduled flight, we haven't been promised anyfurther information, any compensation. Nothing at all." Darcis, 32, whowas 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 aninternational airport like Gatwick (to close). They should be ready for thesethings. I really don't understand what we can do." Gatwick, around 30miles south of the British capital, is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe andsits behind Mumbai as the world's busiest single-runway air hub. - AFP