The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.
‘Welcome to Luton’ prank sign panics Gatwick airport passengers
‘Nothing makes for a stress-free arrival in the UK quite like the words Welcome to Luton currently spelled out in giant white letters in a field under the final approach to Gatwick Airport,’ says traveller
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Passengers onboard a Gatwick-bound flat were left in a “state of panic” by a giant sign someone had laid out on the approach to the airport saying “Welcome to Luton”.
Luckily for passengers, the message was a prank rather than an indication of their location.
Abbey Desmond spotted the oversized letters from her Mexico-London flight and tweeted a picture of it.
“Flying in to Gatwick, just before landing this is what is out the left window… great prank, deffo at Gatwick,” she captioned the photo.
She told ITV: “We were about to land and in a state of panic until staff confirmed on landing we were actually at Gatwick,” adding, “Nothing makes for a stress-free arrival in the UK quite like the words Welcome to Luton currently spelled out in giant white letters in a field under the final approach to Gatwick Airport.”
The heartstopping sign was allegedly the work of prankster Max Fosh, who retweeted Abbey’s picture with one word: “Guilty...”.
“It’s my job to make videos and my videos are all about doing silly things, to put a smile on people’s faces but just to be silly, I’m glad this stunt has gone down well,” he told BBC Three Counties Radio.
Mr Fosh said the stunt had cost him around £4,000 to implement - he found the owners of a field near the airport by knocking on doors in the local area.
“A lovely couple said, ‘yeah we’ve got an 80-metre-long patch of land we don’t have any use for’, so I said ‘great can I get my tarpaulin out and start hammering pegs into the ground?’”
Gatwick passengers beware: the misleading sign is likely to be in place for another six weeks.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments