Eco warriors plotting drone attack in bid to shut down Heathrow
CLIMATE change extremists are plotting t o shut down Heathrow Airport with drones, threatening chaos for more than a million travellers.
The action, being organised by a splinter group of Extinction Rebellion supporters, is scheduled to start on Friday, September 13 and last for a week – but activists warn that it could go on for even longer.
With about 219,000 passengers using Heathrow on an average day, more than 1.5 million people could be affected.
Final planning documents, seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday, show that the protesters will fly toy drones at head height over the airfield to stop aircraft landing or taking off.
The group claim ‘ the airport’s authorities will respond by grounding all flights’.
The plan is for drones to be launched each day at 3am to get ahead of the majority of scheduled flights. A makeshift map of Heathrow airspace is i ncluded in t he dossier, showing flight paths.
In a statement explaining t he drone attack, named Heathrow Pause, the ecoactivists boast of ‘exploiting a loophole in Heathrow Airp o r t ’s h e a l t h - a n d - s a f e t y protocols’ to ‘fly toy drones within its restricted zone’.
The organisers i nclude Left- wing academic Roger Hallam, a co- f ounder of Extinction Rebellion, who helped plan the two weeks of chaos organised in London by the protest group in April. Flying a drone within 3.1 miles of an airport carries a jail sentence of up to five y e a r s . A S c o t l a n d Yar d spokesman said: ‘ We are aware of reports of a protest planned at Heathrow. Anyone caught illegally using a drone within the proximity of an airport can expect to be dealt with in line with the law.’
A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘We agree with the need to act on climate change – this is a global issue that requires constructive engagement and action. Committing offences and disrupting passengers is counterproductive.’
Valerie Brown, a spokeswoman for supporters of the action, said: ‘Our lives are in the Government’s hands and if they are not doing anything to save this planet, we have to make them understand.’