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I can't see any mention of it on here, but link below:
No end in sight to Gatwick disruption
What is known so far:
Gatwick Airport (our second busiest airport, after Heathrow) has been closed for around 28 hours so far as a result of drone sightings continuing across the airfield. Flights have been grounded since Wednesday, which especially at this time of year is of course causing chaos.
Sussex Police say there have been about 50 sightings of a drone being flown around the airport. Every time they get near, it 'disappears'. It then reappears just as they consider opening the runway.
The drone flights are 'highly targeted' and have 'been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas'.
'We don't know what the drone specification is. Our working assumption is it's larger than what someone might buy online, we think it may have been adapted and developed. We're working through CCTV footage and trying to identify the make and model. We will do what we can to take that drone out of the sky and remove that disruption so we can get Gatwick back to the norm.'
Earlier Sussex Police ruled out shooting the drone down, because of the risk from stray bullets (remember also that our officers are not routinely armed. There are of course firearms officers at Gatwick Police around the airport, and Surrey & Sussex Firearms Officers). Over the last few hours, Sussex have now started to say it is possible they could use firearms to shoot the drone now (though making it potentially harder to locate the offender). There are some concerns from some that IF this became used as a terror method (this incident is not thought currently to be terror-related, but with a skillful adapted expensive drone and the ongoing difficulties, they are looking into whether this is 'just' a lone wolf, or whether it is activists), that this would be risky if a drone contained chemicals etc, such as anthrax (again, there is no suggestion of that in this incident. But people are understandably debating the use of drones as terror strategies more widely).
Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley has said: use of firearms "will be within our suite of tactical options available to us going forward. The assessment earlier on today was that we wouldn’t be using firearms and capability to deal with the drone. This is a continually reviewed process so you will know and have seen that we have firearms officers deployed today.
"There are contingencies for instances such as this both in terms of the Gatwick Airport authorities and ourselves, Sussex Police, but this is definitely new territory. We are doing our very best in terms of that capability and those tactical options to deal with this issue and effectively mitigate the threat that drone may pose whilst in the air."
The Army have been deployed with "specialist equipment" to help.
No end in sight to Gatwick disruption
What is known so far:
Gatwick Airport (our second busiest airport, after Heathrow) has been closed for around 28 hours so far as a result of drone sightings continuing across the airfield. Flights have been grounded since Wednesday, which especially at this time of year is of course causing chaos.
Sussex Police say there have been about 50 sightings of a drone being flown around the airport. Every time they get near, it 'disappears'. It then reappears just as they consider opening the runway.
The drone flights are 'highly targeted' and have 'been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas'.
'We don't know what the drone specification is. Our working assumption is it's larger than what someone might buy online, we think it may have been adapted and developed. We're working through CCTV footage and trying to identify the make and model. We will do what we can to take that drone out of the sky and remove that disruption so we can get Gatwick back to the norm.'
Earlier Sussex Police ruled out shooting the drone down, because of the risk from stray bullets (remember also that our officers are not routinely armed. There are of course firearms officers at Gatwick Police around the airport, and Surrey & Sussex Firearms Officers). Over the last few hours, Sussex have now started to say it is possible they could use firearms to shoot the drone now (though making it potentially harder to locate the offender). There are some concerns from some that IF this became used as a terror method (this incident is not thought currently to be terror-related, but with a skillful adapted expensive drone and the ongoing difficulties, they are looking into whether this is 'just' a lone wolf, or whether it is activists), that this would be risky if a drone contained chemicals etc, such as anthrax (again, there is no suggestion of that in this incident. But people are understandably debating the use of drones as terror strategies more widely).
Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley has said: use of firearms "will be within our suite of tactical options available to us going forward. The assessment earlier on today was that we wouldn’t be using firearms and capability to deal with the drone. This is a continually reviewed process so you will know and have seen that we have firearms officers deployed today.
"There are contingencies for instances such as this both in terms of the Gatwick Airport authorities and ourselves, Sussex Police, but this is definitely new territory. We are doing our very best in terms of that capability and those tactical options to deal with this issue and effectively mitigate the threat that drone may pose whilst in the air."
The Army have been deployed with "specialist equipment" to help.
