New Gatwick drone terror

Three planes diverted as pilot spots ‘flying object’

HUNDREDS of passengers were diverted from Gatwick to Stansted following another drone scare yesterday.

A pilot told air traffic control that he had seen a ‘ flying object’ just over three miles from the airport at around 4.05pm.

It is understood that the airport immediately investigated, but its new military grade anti- drone radar systems did not detect anything.

The object was sighted outside the 5km (3.1mile) nofly zone introduced around airports in the wake of the drone chaos at Gatwick before Christmas.

Despite this, pilots on three flights were not prepared to take any chances and diverted to Stansted in Essex, 70 miles away. The pilot on an easyJet flight from Amsterdam told those on board that the plane had been in ‘close proximity’ to a drone, the Sun reported.

One flight from Barcelona and another from Heraklion in Greece that was due to land at 4.23pm were also affected. All three planes eventually landed at Gatwick more than 90 minutes after their scheduled arrival time.

Passengers vented their frustration on social media. Joanne Wood wrote on Twitter: ‘My son is currently stuck on your flight from Schiphol which has diverted to Stansted due to drones at Gatwick. No one allowed to leave the plane, all onboard pretty fed up ... any idea how long this will last??’

Another asked: ‘ The Gatwick drone is back?’

Last night the airport stressed that its runway had not been closed at any point. A spokesman said: ‘Gatwick investigated a report of an unconfirmed sighting of an object outside the airport’s 5km exclusion zone but, following a full assessment, the airport has remained fully operational throughout.’

The scare brings back uncomfortable memories after Britain’s second-busiest airport had to shut down for 33 hours in the week leading up to Christmas, disrupting 140,000 passenger journeys. The chaos continued despite a huge police operation. The culprit or culprits have never been caught.

Sussex police, which has been heavily criticised for its bungled response, has since suggested that the drone incursion was an inside job by someone with detailed knowledge of the airport.

Flying a drone more than 3.1miles from an airport is legal under new legislation which extended the no-fly zone from 0.6miles (1km).