London Gatwick runway forced to close over drone chaos
Pilots today warned of a 'disaster' unless drones are subjected to tougher regulation after a drone caused chaos at London Gatwick Airport last night.
A runway was shut down twice and at least five flights were diverted in the incident at about 6pm yesterday that has prompted a Sussex Police investigation.
An easyjet flight from Naples to Gatwick declared an emergency as it attempted to land, while other flights were diverted to other airports near the British capital.Â
The incident happened around 6pm today at the London airport, resulting in an easyJet flight declaring a mid-air emergency as it attempted to land. File photo
Frankie Goes To Hollywood singer Holly Johnson was diverted to Bournemouth and had a few choice words for BA's treatment of people on the flight
A total of four EasyJet flights were diverted and one British Airways service was sent to Bournemouth Airport, while other flights circled the West Sussex airport.
Craig Jenkins, from Greenwich in South East London, was on the diverted easyJet flight from Naples and told the BBC the pilot alerted the passengers to the incident.
He said: 'We were crossing over the Channel and it started circling. It did four or five circles, heading further east, before the captain said we were landing at Stansted.
'First, they said Gatwick was closed because of an incident. Then, shortly after, they said it was a drone.'
Mr Jenkins said passengers were bein g given the choice of getting off or waiting an hour and flying back to Gatwick.
Other easyJet flights from Milan, Bodrum and Inverness were diverted as well.
Passenger Lorraine Sharp told The Sun that she was on a delayed flight from Toulouse that circled over Gatwick before heading down towards the runway.
She added: 'Just before touching down all of a sudden we shot back up into the air. The pilot said he made the decision to abort because of an 'operational issue'.Â
'They didn't tell us what had happened until we landed â€" that there was a drone near the runway. It was really hairy.'
The British Airline Pilots' Association is calling for compulsory registration of drone users to allow police to track down people flying them irresponsibly.
The union's flight safety specialist, Steve Landells, said: 'Yet another incident at Gatwick involving drones shows that the threat of drones being flown near manned-aircraft must be addressed before we see a disaster.
'Drones can be great fun, and have huge commercial potential, but with a significant increase in near-misses in recent years it seems not everyone who is flying them either know or care about the rules that are in place for good reason.
'We believe a collision, particularly with a helicopter, has the potential be catastr ophic.'
He added that as the number of drones being sold takes off, new technology should be looked at to address safety concerns.
'These should include, amongst other things, geofencing as standard and a system whereby the drone transmits enough data for the police to locate the operator when it is flown in a dangerous manner,' he said.Â
A spokesman for easyJet said: 'easyJet can confirm that as a result of an earlier runway closure at London Gatwick Airport four flights were diverted.
Thousands were either diverted or delayed by the drone flying over Gatwick
'Once refuelled three flights continued onto London Gatwick and easyJet arranged coach transfers onto London Gatwick for passengers on flight EZY8832 from Bodrum that diverted to London Southend.
'The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority.
'While the circumstances are outside of our control, easyJet apologises for any inconvenience caused.'
British Airways was also forced to divert one of its planes from Valencia to Bournemouth Airport.
Among the passengers on the diverted flights was Holly Johnson, formerly the front man of British band Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
He wrote on Twitter: 'A Drone on the flightpath into Gatwick : our @British-Airways flight diverted to Bournemouth. On the Tarmac waiting ... for an update.'
Many other planes had to delay their landings at Gatwick, while delays were also reported for departures.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport told MailOnline its airfield teams were investigating the cause of the disruption, but operations were still running.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport told MailOnline said its airfield teams were investigating the cause of the disruption, but operations were still running. File photo
He added: 'Due to reports of a drone observation in the vicinity of the airfield, runway operations at Gatwick were suspended between 6.10pm and 6.19pm and again from 6.36pm to 6.41pm, resulting in a small number of go-arounds and diverts.
'Operations have resumed and the police continue to investigate.'
It is not the first time a drone is suspected of infringing on airspace near landing strips.
Last month an airline pilot was forced to take evasive action after one came within 20 metres of his plane as he prepared to land in Edinburgh.
The Loganair flight had been descending at about 4,000ft at the time, and despite th e safe landing police warned there could have been 'far more serious consequences'.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Robert Buckland has said the law on drones should be reviewed.
He told BBC Radio 4's The Westminster Hour: 'The legislation relating to aviation is quite old. There's a lot of legislation about intentional attacks on aircraft. I'd hesitate to say that there's a loophole but certainly the development of drones is a relatively recent phenomenon.
'It's causing problems not only at airports but also in our prisons, and it's clear to me that we need to look very carefully at whether the law is up to spend and at whether we can improve it in order to make sure that where offences occur which cause risk to life and limb, massive disruption and criminal damage, that the law is fit for the purpose of prosecuting the perpetrators of this type of crime.'Â Â
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