AIRPORT HELL: ARMY HUNT DRONE PILOT
BOSSES RAPPED FOR LACK OF EMERGENCY PLANS Bride’s big day is up in the air
BY EMMA BOWDEN A GLASGOW couple who are due to wed abroad tomorrow were caught up in the chaos at Gatwick.
Bride-to-be Tayo Abraham and her partner Ope Odedine were due to fly to Marrakesh in Morocco on Wednesday with nine family and friends.
The group boarded the Air Arabia flight but it never took off after the drones incidents.
Tayo, 31, a contractor, said: “It’s been a year that we’ve been planning this, we can’t start rearranging the wedding. It’s sad because it’s Christmas time and people are trying to get to loved ones.
“Everything has been disrupted but aside from the cost, it’s the emotional side, the trauma.”
The group, including kids aged one and four, endured another day of disruption yesterday.
Tayo and her fiance were forced to book an alternative flight from Manchester Airport for 6am this morning – at a cost of more than £1000.
She said they may have to “trim” back on guests as the additional cost of rebooking flights was too high for everyone to pay.
Tayo said: “Most of the guests are there already. I just want to get there and get this over with. It will be disappointing for everyone that isn’t able to travel.”
Tayo’s uncle Baba Sanwo, from San Diego, flew into Heathrow from the US ahead of Wednesday’s flight.
The 63-year-old was left sitting on the floor at Gatwick for more than five hours. He said: “I’m uncomfortable, cold and hungry.” BY CHRIS HUGHES and BEN GLAZE ARMY specialists were called in last night to hunt down the rogue drone operators who brought Gatwick Airport to a standstill.
The prank, described by police as a “deliberate act to disrupt the airport”, cost airlines millions and stranded more than 110,000 passengers.
An airport spokesman said last night that passengers should not come to the airport “for the foreseeable future”, including today.
The chaos led to anger over the apparent lack of emergency planning at airports, with Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg describing it as “unacceptable”.
But experts warn those disrupted may not even be entitled to compensation.
Two “industrial-grade” drones were first spotted flying inside the Sussex airport’s perimeter at 9pm on Wednesday, forcing the runway to close.
The unmanned aircraft are capable of bringing down a passenger plane. Dozens of troops were drafted in to help police. They have equipment that can track drones and hone in on the culprits, who could be jailed for up to five years.
Some 110,000 passengers were due to take off or land at the airport on 760 flights yesterday, while 10,000 were affected on Wednesday.
Gatwick boss Stewart Wingate apologised.
He said: “This is a highly targeted activity which has been designed to close the airport and bring maximum A DRONE could take a jet down and I think it’s inevitable that something will go wrong.
Approach and take-off are the big danger points in flying but also where drones will be active.
That’s potentially catastrophic – and I also worry about copycats who get a drone for Christmas.
Drones have become offensive disruption Christmas.”
Experts from security services and government were summoned to a COBRA meeting yesterday to discuss plans to prevent a repeat of the incident.
PM Theresa May said: “We’ve already passed legislation in relation to the use of drones so it is now, as has been made clear, that the activity that we’ve seen is illegal and those who are caught endangering aircraft can face up to five years in prison.” Baroness Sugg blasted the lack of emergency planning. She said: “It is not acceptable that passengers should face such disruption.”
Some passengers still stuck at the BY PAUL BEAVER AVIATION ANALYST weapons. If one were sucked into a jet engine it could explode. We need regulations for drones, such as accreditation and insurance.
They should be treated the same as balloons and microlights. in the run-up to packed airport terminal last night had been there for almost 24 hours.
Zac Morgan, a student at University College London, said: “Every hour they have been changing the flight times, so instead of saying go home, they’ve been telling us to stay.”
Many inbound flights were diverted as far away as Amsterdam and Paris.
Luke McComiskie’s plane ended up in Manchester. The 20-year-old, of Aldershot, Hampshire, said: “It was chaos and they had only two coaches and taxis charging £600 to get to Gatwick.”
Despite the disruption, experts say passengers may not get compensation due to “extraordinary circumstances”.
These are matters out of an airline’s control, such as a security risk.
Meanwhile, there were delays at Heathrow yesterday due to an IT glitch affecting the baggage check-in system. They are now very responsive, very fast and can operate for miles. So we must get a grip by taking control.
And seeing police with guns on the runway is not the answer.
The situation is a shambles. It seems Sussex Police can’t find a simple drone. Yet we have very effective military means of CRAMPED Packed Gatwick terminal FRUSTRATION Fed-up passenger waiting for news MENACE Drone like two sighted
STEWART WINGATE GATWICK CHIEF EXEC
detecting drones. We know their frequencies and there are many ways to take them down.
The police will be embarrassed they can’t deal with this. Yet why aren’t they scanning drones’ frequencies and jamming them?
They are always reluctant to call in the military – but the military have the solutions.