‘I drone’t believe it!’
Mum and daughter caught up in Gatwick disruption
A Cambusbarron woman has told how a pre-Christmas trip was thrown into chaos because of flight disruption caused by suspected drones.
Nicola Cowie and her daughter Erin (18) flew from Glasgow Airport to Gatwick on Wednesday evening to visit relatives.
However, Gatwick’s runway was forced to shut on Wednesday night over safety fears following claims of drones flying over the airfield.
Chief executive of the West Sussex airport Stewart Wingate said those behind the stunt wanted to ‘close the airport and bring maximum disruption’.
All airlines were advised to cancel flights.
Mrs Cowie (48), who works for the Cowane’s Hospital Trust, arrived at her destination, in Haywards Heath, Sussex, fifteen hours later than expected and was forced to fork out an additional £140 for a hotel for the night.
She told how some passengers lost their temper and said police were called to deal with one man who became verbally abusive to a member of airline staff.
Mrs Cowie’s flight had been due to land at 9.15pm Wednesday but the flight was running ahead of time and was one of the first aeroplanes turned away from Gatwick.
She said: “The pilot had very little information at that point from air traffic control and we circled Gatwick for the best part of an hour waiting to see if we could land.
“The pilot took the decision to land the plane at Luton airport just after 10pm. However, we weren’t allowed off the plane in case Gatwick reopened and they could get us back there. But after two hours they finally agreed to let us off but due to the unscheduled landings at Luton there weren’t enough ground staff to deal with the demand which delayed leaving the aircraft even further.
“Eventually they told us that ground staff had arranged coaches back to Gatwick but that we needed to queue at customer services which was manned by one person before getting on the coaches. At this point, and knowing we’d not get to Gatwick until at least 3am with no way of getting to my destination, I took the decision to stay in a hotel and get a train in the morning.
“Fifteen hours later we eventually made it but at an extra cost of £140. Tempers on the plane flared with the lack of information provided, but in fairness the crew didn’t know either.
“Police were called to one passenger as he was abusive toward a stewardess trying to explain the situation which caused great anxiety. All in all it wasn’t a pleasant experience but it could have been far worse had we not have been one of the first to be diverted.”
She planned to return home in time for Christmas Day with her husband and son.
Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive of Gatwick Airport, said: “On behalf of everyone at Gatwick I would like to repeat how sorry we are for the inconvenience this criminal behaviour has caused passengers and we share their real anger and frustration that it has happened. This is a highly targeted activity which has been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas.” Gatwick remained closed Thursday and did not re– open until 6am Friday.A man and a woman were arrested over the drone activity, Sussex Police said.
Paul Gait, 47, and wife Elaine Kirk, 54, were held by Sussex Police on Friday for criminal misuse of a drone following the major disruption at the airport which caused travel chaos for more than 100,000 people.
They were later released without charge. Police said on Sunday they had yet to find confirmed filmed footage of the devices believed to have caused the chaos.