Not again! Chaos after sighting of drone at Heathrow
THE vulnerability of Britain’s airports was exposed again last night after a drone sighting paralysed Heathrow.
Only three weeks after the fiasco at Gatwick, flights were grounded at Heathrow for almost 90 minutes after a single reported sighting of a drone was enough to shut down Europe’s biggest airport.
A massive police operation was launched, with the Army immediately put on standby to deploy specialist equipment. Heathrow last night confirmed it has ordered millions of pounds of military grade anti-drone equipment but refused to say whether it has been deployed yet.
Travellers stuck in their seats on taxiing aircraft watched airport vehicles on the runway desperately hunting the drone. Officials could not say if the sighting was even confirmed. The pilot of one flight to Hong Kong reportedly told passengers the drone was seen ‘at the takeoff point on the runway’. Gareth Hutchins, who was trapped on a flight, added: ‘If you think a drone is annoying, wait until you’re stuck on a non-moving plane with my two and a half year old for more than an hour. Pray for us.’
Another passenger said: ‘Who are the b ****** s behind this?’
Travel experts estimated the incident led to 40 flight delays.
Measures to install anti-drone missiles and detectors were promised in the wake of the Gatwick chaos. Potential solutions are thought to include the Israelidesigned Drone Dome, which can detect and jam communications.
Heathrow declined to give details on what system it has ordered.
Metropolitan Police officers at the airport are reported to have been practising using ‘net’ bazookas to bring down rogue drones. But they are not thought to be ready to use them to protect the airport yet.
Last night’s chaos comes barely 24 hours after the UK Government laid out plans to give airport workers the power to shoot down drones with net bazookas and shotguns.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling scrambled to reassure the public he had the situation under control, tweeting: ‘I have already spoken to both the Home Secre- tary and Defence Secretary and the military are preparing to deploy the equipment used at Gatwick at Heathrow quickly should it prove necessary.’
He was stung by heavy criticism over the debacle at Gatwick, when more than 1,000 flights and 140,000 passengers were affected between December 19 and 21. Sussex Police arrested an innocent couple and suggested there might never have been a drone at all, before claiming it had been a ‘mis-statement’.
Yet despite police, military and transport chiefs having three weeks to prepare for another drone attack, Heathrow was forced to suspend operations at 5.05pm last night as a precautionary measure after ‘reports of a sighting of a drone in the vicinity’.
Flights resumed after an hour, and a Heathrow spokesman said: ‘Based on standard operating procedures, working with air traffic control and the Met Police, we have resumed departures following a short suspension. We continue to monitor this situation and apologise to any passengers that were affected by this disruption.’
Among those stranded on the runway was former Hollyoaks actress Wallis Day, who tweeted: ‘Whoever’s flying the drone over Heathrow .... can u not.’
Student Charlie Hammond, 21, said: ‘Nobody told us a thing. Then a passenger next to me showed me her iPad. She was panicking, telling me about the drone sighting.’
Ministers have announced measures designed to give police extra powers to combat drones, while the exclusion zone around airports will be extended, with extra extensions from runway ends.
Operators of drones weighing between 250g and 20kg will be required to register and take an drone pilot competency test.
‘Nobody told us a thing’