Drone chaos at Heathrow
Chaos for stranded air travellers
AIR passengers faced fresh disruption last night after flights from Heathrow Airport were halted following a possible drone sighting.
Departures were put on hold and the northern runway at Britain’s busiest airport was closed while travellers were once again left stranded.
The delays come just weeks after one of the devices was supposedly spotted near Gatwick Airport.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said yesterday afternoon: “We are in contact with Heathrow Airport concerning the drone sighting.
“I have already spoken to both the Home Secretary and Defence Secretary and the military are preparing to deploy the equipment used at Gatwick at Heathrow should it prove necessary.”
But flights were resumed by yesterday evening.
During the delays grounded passengers reported hearing helicopters overhead.
The Met Police were drafted in to assist in the search of the alleged drone.
One passenger tweeted: “On plane at Heathrow to travel back to Belfast.
“Assessment being done. Could be a long night.”
Another wrote: “This could be a long evening on a London runway instead of flying to Salzburg.”
Heathrow, which processes 200,000 passengers a day, tweeted: “We continue to work with the Met Police on reports of drones. We will continue to monitor this and apologise to anyone affected.”
After the chaos at Gatwick last month, police have been given new powers to deal with drone pilots while airport exclusion zones are being extended to 5km from 1km.
Gatwick was shut down between December 19 and 21, leading to the cancellation of 1,000 flights.