London – Illegal Drones Close Gatwick Airport (Video)

Flights were halted at the British Gatwick airport since Wednesday evening following repeated reports that groups of drones flew too close near the airport. Airplanes that were already on the runway had to stay on the tarmac and incoming flights were moved to other airports.

Thursday morning around 03.00 local times, air traffic control released the airspace. Three-quarters of an hour later it was closed again because new reports of drone sightings arrived.

So Gatwick is shut due to drones so our flight TOM687 has been diverted to Stansted,so far we've been stuck on our plane for 4 hours.. a man has opened the plane door and put everyone at risk & then another guy says he's a terrorist Living pure hell right now 😥 #GatwickAirport pic.twitter.com/1qgF5mxsZf

— Lyndsey Clarke (@LyndseyClarke10) December 20, 2018

According to the website Flightradar24, more than fifty flights were diverted in the first part of the night alone. They had to move to airports all over Great Britain, but also to Amsterdam, Paris and Bordeaux.

@BBCBreaking just spotted a Gatwick drone from our plane window pic.twitter.com/0kduKn2mNk

— Ed Wilde (@edwilde) December 20, 2018

Gatwick announced that the runway had reopened at about 3am on Thursday – but 45 minutes later it was closed again. It said: “Following reports of two drones flying over the Gatwick airport airfield at around 9pm, the airfield was closed from 21:03 on Wednesday 19 December to 03:01 on Thursday 20 December.”

Been stuck on the tarmac for over an hour after landing at Luton instead of @Gatwick_Airport - crew have said all airports in the South are full to capacity. No idea how we're going to get home - no info on onward travel! pic.twitter.com/PYqfkw2fhN

— Amilia Rachel (@millie15395) December 20, 2018

“Unfortunately a further sighting of drones in the vicinity of the airport has forced the runway to be closed again from 03:45 as we investigate the sighting alongside Sussex police.

“We will update when we have suitable reassurance that it is appropriate to reopen the runway.”

Been stuck here inside the plane for more than 3 hours now and not even a sign of taking off. And, meant to be flying for 13++ hours. #gatwickairport #drones @Gatwick_Airport @ChinaairlinesEN pic.twitter.com/1LtU4aGnHS

— Donna (@donnajpag) December 20, 2018

Gatwick, some 40 miles outside of London, is the busiest airport in Britain with 45 million passengers a year after Heathrow. The airport warned that air traffic will probably still be affected during the day on Thursday and advises passengers to check their flight status before coming to the airport.

Latest reports from Gatwick show that this morning, the number of delays and cancellations indeed continues.

Source:
https://news.sky.com/story/chaos-at-gatwick-after-drone-sightings-force-runway-closure-11586557

Follow me on Twitter!
@Steve_Dellar
Follow me on Gab!
@SteveDellar
Be Sure To Share Our Articles!
The Goldwater Proudly Supports 8ch.net 

What do you think about this article?

Name
Comment *
Image