Gatwick fear as public get yards from planes
THE NIGHTMARE of keeping Britain’s airspace safe is highlighted by this picture, as people stroll just yards from taxiing planes at Gatwick.
The Sunday Express was shown an easily accessible route to the airport’s western perimeter fence.
A footpath runs alongside the runway, separated only by a wire fence. It is 10 yards from planes and is familiar to locals and plane spotters.
B&B owner Christine Muir, 52, said she was surprised how close you can get. She said: “We’ve been aware of this for a while but can’t believe nothing has been done to boost security, given what happened recently.
“It is just 10 yards from aircraft.
“We occasionally see a passing airport vehicle but they rarely challenge anyone there. Behind it, you can position
RISK: Drone could be loaded with explosives and flown into airport
yourself in woodland and would definitely not be observed.”
She added: “It would be very easy to launch a drone.”
Her fears were backed by security expert Col Richard Kemp, ex-member of the UK Joint Intelligence Committee.
He said: “The issue is the short distance. It would be easy to use a high-powered rifle or rocket-propelled grenade launcher. But the real danger comes from drones, which are easily accessible. We’ve seen how skilled Islamic State is at loading them with explosives. It’s a threat we’ve been ignoring for too long.”
A spokesman for Gatwick said: “The distance between our perimeter fence and aircraft is in accordance with Civil Aviation Authority standards. It is regularly patrolled 24 hours a day by our security teams in addition to the CCTV technology used.”
A trespasser was arrested after trying to drive a car on to the runway at Hanover airport in Germany yesterday.