Gatwick drone disruption: House near to airport searched as police investigation continues

Police and television crews were seen outside the house
REUTERS
Jacob Jarvis22 December 2018

A property near to Gatwick Airport has been searched by police following drone activity which disrupted flights.

This house investigation came after a 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman, from Crawley in West Sussex, were arrested in the town at about 10pm on Friday.

The pair are being held on suspicion of "disrupting services of civil aviation aerodrome to endanger or likely to endanger safety of operations or persons", said Sussex Police.

A home in Crawley less than five miles away from the airport was searched on Saturday, as Superintendent James Collis said investigations are ongoing.

Gatwick chaos - In pictures

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He said: "Our activities at the airport continue to build resilience to detect and mitigate further incursions from drones, by deploying a range of tactics.

"We continue to urge the public, passengers and the wider community around Gatwick to be vigilant and support us by contacting us immediately if they believe they have any information that can help us in bringing those responsible to justice.

"The arrests we have made are a result of our determination to keep the public safe from harm. Every line of inquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers."

A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said on Saturday morning its runway was open and it was aiming to operate a full flight schedule.

Passengers wait at Gatwick Airport after drones flying illegally over the airfield forced the closure of the airport
REUTERS

However, passengers were urged to check with their airline before travelling, while long queues and knock-on delays remained at the airport as airlines worked to clear a backlog of flights.

"Passengers should expect some delays and cancellations as we continue to recover our operations following three days of disruption and are advised to check with their airline before travelling to the airport," the spokesman said.

"Safety is Gatwick's top priority and we are grateful for passengers' continued patience as we work to get them to their final destination in time for Christmas."

Passengers queue while waiting for announcements at Gatwick South Terminal
Getty Images

Some 1,000 flights have been cancelled or diverted since drones were spotted inside the perimeter of the UK's second biggest airport on Wednesday night.

This has affected approximately 140,000 passengers.

Flights were again briefly grounded at the airport on Friday evening after a fresh sighting at around 5.10pm.

However, military measures reassured operators it was safe to reopen the runway shortly afterwards.

Military was used to stop further drone disruption alongside a range of tactics in place if any unmanned aircraft are spotted inside the perimeter.

Equipment set up to deal with drones at Gatwick
Getty Images

One piece of equipment believed to have been deployed at the airport is the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system.

This can detect drones using radar and can also jam communications between the drone and its operator, enabling authorities to take control of and land the device.

As flights began running close to schedule, Vivienne Shorrock was "relieved" to have avoided the drone disruption, as she was worried the family's non-refundable holiday would go to waste.

"But then we thought well it's a middle class problem isn't it. Oh no, we can't go on a skiing holiday," she said.

A British Airways plane comes into land at Gatwick airport
PA

"In perspective some people have suffered real losses by not getting where they want to go to be with family."

David Shorrock joked the drone drama was a "nice distraction from Brexit" before offering a novel solution to the problem.

"They should've got some farmers here. They would've soon sorted it out," he said.

"You get 100 young farmers here with a flagon of cider. Free cider for anyone who shoots the drone."

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