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
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
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
Please allow a moment for this live blog to load
The number of cancelled flights at Gatwick now stands at 540, with 100 more diverted to other airports, according to Flightradar.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling has said the government is "doing everything it can" to tackle the drone problem.
He said: "This is clearly a very serious ongoing incident in which substantial drones have been used to bring about the temporary closure of a major international airport.
"The people who were involved should face the maximum possible custodial sentence for the damage they have done.
"Government is doing everything it can to support Sussex police."
Easyjet has announced that all of its flights to or from Gatwick Airport on Thursday have been cancelled.
"At this stage, there is no indication of when the airport might re-open and as a result we have cancelled all flights due to operate to or from London Gatwick today," the company said in a statement.
"We expect disruption to continue into tomorrow."
Transport secretary Chris Grayling has told the BBC that the motive for the drone activity was unknown. He said there was "no suggestion that this is some kind of terrorist act."
"The people who have done this should expect to go to jail for a long time," he added.
"There is a huge effort to find the perpetrators but at the end of the day it is up to the airport operators to decide when it is safe to reopen."
Reuters news agency has reported that around 20 police units attempted to track down the drone operator on Wednesday evening, without success.
"Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears," said Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw.
Police told airport officials it was too risky to try to shoot down the drones.
Chris Grayling has also announced that the restrictions on night flying at other London airports are being lifted to ease the congestion caused by the closure of Gatwick.
He told Sky News: "We're doing everything we can to make arrangements with other airports to get passengers incoming into the UK, but also to give passengers a chance to get out of the UK as quickly as possible.
"One of the things we're going to be doing is temporarily lifting the night-flight restrictions at other airports so more planes can get into and out of the country.
"Apologies for the residents affected, but it's right and proper that we try and sort people's Christmases out.
"It's likely to be other London airports but it will only be tonight. We will review the situation again tomorrow but we're looking to get people away."
Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate has described the drone activity as "highly targeted" and "designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas."
"It cannot be right that drones can close a vital part of our national infrastructure in this way. This is obviously a relatively new technology and we need to think through together the right solutions to make sure it cannot happen again."
Mr Wingate says in his statement that they are still receiving drone sightings.
"We first had reports of two drones flying in and around the airfield at 21:03 last night. As a result, we took immediate steps to close the runway in accordance with our airport safety protocols. We obviously wanted to be in a position to reopen the airport again as quickly as possible. We are still receiving drone sightings in and around the Gatwick airfield.
"Therefore, until we are confident that the issue has been resolved it would clearly not be in the interests of passengers to do so as we could be jeopardising their safety.
"So regrettably, for the time being, the airport will remain closed as a result of this criminal activity. While some airlines have cancelled all flights up to 7pm tonight, we would encourage all passengers to check the latest information on their flights directly with their airline or on the Gatwick website."
He adds that they still cannot say when it will be safe to reopen the airport.
"We hope passengers appreciate that we must and will always prioritise their safety over everything else," said Mr Wingate. "We are all working flat out to minimise inconvenience and have additional staff in both terminals assisting passengers who are waiting. Regrettably we are still not in a position to say when it will be safe to reopen the airport. As soon as we can we will.
"These events obviously highlight a wider strategic challenge for aviation in this country which we need to address together with speed - the aviation industry, Government and all the other relevant authorities. It cannot be right that drones can close a vital part of our national infrastructure in this way. This is obviously a relatively new technology and we need to think through together the right solutions to make sure it cannot happen again.
"In the meantime all our focus is on sorting the current challenge and getting services back to normal for passengers. At the moment, I am not in a position to say with certainty when that might be but everyone is doing whatever they can to help make that happen."
Here's Transport secretary Chris Grayling's update on the Gatwick drone situation.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments