Gatwick airport delays: Army called in to help battle drone chaos with flights grounded for at least 33 hours
Up to 120,000 passengers affected by delays and cancellations after devices force runway closure
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Your support makes all the difference.The Army was called in to Gatwick to deal with rogue drones being repeatedly flown overheard in what police said was a ”deliberate” attempt to disrupt Britain’s second-busiest airport.
More than 120,000 passengers have been affected by delays and cancellations, with all flights grounded for at least 33 hours as the Christmas getaway begins.
The drone or drones first appeared at 9pm on Wednesday and by Thursday night there had been 50 reported sightings. The airport is not due to open before 6am on Friday.
Sussex Police said they were trying to identify the make and model of the flying machine and were actively considering shooting it down.
Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said the use of firearms “will be within our suite of tactical options available to us going forward”.
He added: “One of the options is to use firearms officers if that presents itself – they have been out on the ground today and that’s a consideration and a tactical option that is open to us.
“There are a number of factors in terms of range, the height of the drone and the likely impact of us firing at the drone but that is a tactical option open to the gold commander who will make a decision based on the information available to them at the time.”
Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s chief operating officer, said the airport could potentially remain closed for all of Friday following further drone sightings.
He said: “My apologies to all those passengers who have seen this disruption from the criminal activity from these people who are purposely disrupting our airport and their travel so close to Christmas.”
“We have had the police, we have had the military seeking to bring this drone down for the last 24 hours and to date that has not been successful so Gatwick Airport is still closed.
The government, which condemned the activity as as “incredible irresponsible”, is facing widespread calls for the urgent introduction of stronger drone laws.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said there was no known motive for the drone activity but said there was no suggestion it was related to terrorism.
To read our coverage of developments as they happened, see below
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There will be no flights at Gatwick until 7pm at the earliest, Eurocontrol has said.
Theresa May has said the government is "consulting on" strengthening police powers to deal with drones.
Speaking at a press conference at a press conference in London, the prime minister said:
I feel for all those passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted by this drone activity and the action that's had to be taken in response to it. Obviously at this particular time of year this is particularly difficult for people.
We've already passed legislation in relation to the use of drones so it is now, as has been made clear, that the activity that we've seen is illegal and those who are caught endangering aircraft can face up to five years in prison.
That's legislation we've already introduced and actually we're consulting on further aspects of this including for police powers, but we will continue to work with the Gatwick authorities and police will be working with the Gatwick authorities in order to bring this to a close, such that people will be able to get on to the travel that they were expecting over the Christmas period.
Here's an interesting thread from a California tech company founder, who says consumer drones would have inbuilt software preventing from flying close to an airport
The lack of effective drone regulation is "an accident waiting to happen", according to Prospect, which represents engineers and scientists.
Garry Graham, deputy general secretary, said:
The drone disruption in Gatwick comes as little surprise to those in the aviation industry who have been arguing that the lack of effective regulation and enforcement is an accident waiting to happen.
Prospect, alongside other aviation unions, has been arguing at a UK and European level for a tough regulatory framework supported by a robust enforcement regime. Without things like geofencing, drone registration and training, backed up by greater publicity of the laws and adequately-resourced enforcement, this kind of event will only become more common.
Police have requested military assistance from the armed forces as they struggle to deal with the drones at Gatwick.
The Independent understands that the army will be deployed to the airport, which has now been shut for almost 19 hours.
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: “There are ongoing discussions with the police about any military capability that could be provided to assist with their operation.”
It is also not known it what capacity will be assisting police at Gatwick.
Defence minister Gavin Williamson told The Independent and other reporters from other outlets: "I can confirm that Sussex Police have requested support over the drone incident in Gatwick and we will be providing that support.
"I cannot go into the details of what we will be doing, but the UK’s armed forces have a range of unique capabilities which will be deployed to deal with this situation."
The Ministry of Defence is being sent to Gatwick to deploy "specialist equipment", a spokeswoman said.
She did not provide further details on the equipment, but options are thought to include military drones or technology which tracks signals and radio frequencies.
Gatwick will not reopen until 8pm at the earliest, Eurocontrol has said. It means flights will have been grounded at the airport for nearly 24 hours.
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