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Gatwick Airport Shut Down After Drone Sightings Gatwick Airport Closed After Drone Sightings That Officials Call ‘Deliberate’
(about 4 hours later)
Gatwick Airport, London’s second-busiest airport, was brought to a standstill after at least one drone was spotted flying over its airfield on Wednesday and Thursday. LONDON — Gatwick Airport, Britain’s second-busiest air hub, was shut down late Wednesday and early Thursday after a drone was seen flying illegally nearby, in what the authorities said was a deliberate act meant to disrupt flights during one of the year’s busiest travel seasons.
Inbound flights were diverted to airports as far away as Paris and outbound flights were grounded from 9 p.m. Wednesday to around 3 a.m. Thursday. Arriving flights carrying 10,000 passengers were diverted because of the shutdown, Gatwick officials said, with some travelers forced to land at airports as far away as Paris. Departing flights were grounded from 9 p.m. Wednesday to around 3 a.m. Thursday.
The airfield, about 25 miles south of central London, reopened briefly, but the authorities shut it down again at 3:45 a.m. after a drone was spotted again. The airport, which connects fliers to 230 destinations in 70 countries, remained closed Thursday morning. The airport, which is about 25 miles south of central London and connects fliers to 230 destinations in 70 countries, was shut again around 45 minutes later after another reported drone sighting, and it remained closed at midday.
“We apologize to any affected passengers for this inconvenience but the safety of our passengers and all staff is our foremost priority,” airport authorities said on Twitter. The local police in Sussex, outside London, described the flying of a drone so close to the airport as a “deliberate act,” but said there were “no indications to suggest this is terror related.”
Chris Woodroofe, the chief operating officer of Gatwick Airport, told Sky News that two staff members had first spotted a drone Wednesday night. Gatwick and the airlines that use it advised passengers to check the status of flights before coming to the airport. A total of 760 flights carrying 115,000 passengers were scheduled to leave and arrive on Thursday.
“Since then, the drone has appeared and disappeared and appeared and disappeared,” he said. A drone flew over the airfield Thursday morning, he said. As part of an investigation with the Surrey police and the National Police Air Service, the Sussex police used Twitter to ask for the public’s help in finding whoever was flying the drone.
As the popularity of drones has soared in recent years, so have worldwide reports of their role in causing airline disruptions. British statistics have shown a steady increase of drone sightings near airports in recent years. “We are appealing for information to help us identify the operators of the #Gatwick #drones,” the police wrote.
Flying a drone within a kilometer, or about three-fifths of a mile, of an airport is illegal and punishable by up to five years in prison in Britain, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. Chris Woodroofe, the airport’s chief operating officer, told Sky News that two staff members had first spotted a drone Wednesday night. “Since then, the drone has appeared and disappeared and appeared and disappeared,” he said. The last reported sighting was around 8:45 a.m.
Gatwick Airport was also closed after drone sightings in July 2017. Passengers whose trips had been disrupted vented their frustration on social media. One traveler wrote that she had taken a “tour of every London airport” after stops at Stansted and Heathrow, while a man who said he had been redirected to Paris wondered if his dog would walk itself.
Frustrated passengers vented on social media about their disrupted plans. One traveler wrote that she had a “tour of every London airport” after stops at Stansted and Heathrow, while a man who said he had been redirected to Paris wondered if his dog would walk itself. As drones’ popularity has increased in recent years, so have reports of the devices’ role in causing airline disruptions. The number of commercial drone licenses in Britain rose to 3,800 in 2017 from 2,500 the year before. The number of drone incidents rose to 93 in 2017, from 71 in 2016.
New laws introduced in Britain in May restrict drones from flying above 400 feet or within a kilometer, or about three-fifths of a mile, of airport boundaries. Violators can be punished with up to five years in prison in Britain.
As of Nov. 30, 2019, the owners of drones weighing more than 250 grams, or a bit more than half a pound, will have to register them with the Civil Aviation Authority, and those who fly them will have to pass an online safety test. Those who do not following these steps can incur fines of as much as 1,000 pounds, or around $1,270.
This is not the first time an airport has been shut down over the appearance of a drone. Gatwick was closed after drone sightings in July 2017. Airports in Chengdu, China; Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; and Ottawa have also had to shut down because of drone sightings.
“I’m somewhat surprised this doesn’t happen more often, said Ulrike Franke, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, who specializes in drones. “The Gatwick case is very extreme because of the length of time.”
Many drones have internal GPS software that prevents pilots from flying them into restricted areas like airports. But Ms. Franke said the systems were imperfect and could be subverted by people who understand their workings.
She said the amount of time the drone had been above the airport supported the idea that it was being flown there deliberately. “This very much points to this being planned and not just some rogue hobbyist,” she said.
Ms. Franke noted that most airports have electrical jammers or other anti-drone measures in place to quickly get rid of drone threats.
“The danger is pretty much the same as with birds. A drone may get caught in an engine during take off and landing,” she said. “It’s plastic, metal and lithium batteries that can explode.”
The episodes highlight broader security issues related to drones and nuclear facilities, prisons and even targeted assassinations, she added. In Britain, drones are used for inspections of infrastructure like nuclear power stations, wind turbines and railroads.
“There is a real worry,” she said.
In an interview with the BBC, Baroness Sugg, Britain’s aviation minister, said the government was already considering tighter regulation of drones.
“Technology in this area is obviously moving incredibly quickly, but we do need to ensure that we’re able to stop such activity in future,” she said.
Gatwick has less traffic than major European airports like Schiphol in Amsterdam, which has six runways, Frankfurt Airport and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, which each have four.
But runway space at Gatwick is tight. Heathrow, a two-runway airport in west London, has had a third runway approved because it running out of capacity and losing ground to other hubs in Europe.
Britain’s Airports Commission had also looked into a new runway at Gatwick, but concluded that it was better for passengers and freight to expand Heathrow.
Gatwick said it was expecting a record 2.9 million passengers during the Christmas period, with 73,000 passengers expected to travel through the airport on Dec. 23 alone. It could get even busier with 142,000 people booked to fly on Dec. 30.