London Gatwick Airport closure because of drones extends into Friday

Tens of thousands of passengers were delayed, diverted or stuck on planes Thursday as the only runway at Britain'sGatwickAirport remained closed into a second day after drones were spotted over the airfield.

The airport south of London Britain's second-busiest by passenger numbers said all incoming and outgoing flights were suspendeduntilfurther notice on a day when 115,000 people were scheduled to pass through, many en route to seasonal breaks.

Gatwick first closed its runway Wednesday evening after two drones were spotted. It reopened briefly at about 3 a.m. GMT Thursday, but shut 45 minutes later after further sightings.

Drones were still being spotted into Thursday night,aGatwickspokespersonsaid around 10p.m. GMT,more than 24 hoursafter their first sighting.

Europe's air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said theairport would remain closed until at least 6a.m. GMT on Friday.

Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport, where many slept on floors or formed long lines at information desks.

Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said in a statement Thursday that the drone intrusion at Gatwickwas "highly targeted" and designed to cause "maximum disruption" just before Christmas.

Police said the drone flights were a "deliberate act to disrupt the airport," but that there were "absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related."

Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesperson condemned thestandoff as "irresponsible and completely unacceptable."

Two Canadian airlines operate direct flights to Gatwick: WestJet and Air Transat.

WestJettold CBC Newsit has cancelled all regularly scheduled flight to and from Gatwick on Thursday, and was contacting all affected customers.

Drone sightings persist

There were 20 police units from two forces searching for the elusive drone operator.Supt. Justin Burtenshawof Sussex Policesaid the search was daunting.

"Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears," he said.

Get an idea of themadnessatGatwick:

Burtenshawsaid new and bigger drones have more reach, making it harder for police to locate the personcontrolling the flying device.

"It's a difficult and challenging thing to locate them, but I've got teams now and I've got investigators looking at how we do that, and I'm confident we will," he said.

Gatwick'schief operating officer Chris Woodroofe describedone of the drones as a heavy industrial model.

"The police advice is that it would be dangerous to seek toshoot the drone down because of what may happen to the straybullets," he told BBC Radio.

"It is clearly our intention to get open again, but onlywhen it is safe to do so,"Woodroofesaid.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the military would be deployed to help police. He said the armed forces would bring "unique capabilities" but gave no details.

Any problem at Gatwick causes a ripple effect throughout Britain and continental Europe, particularly during a holiday period when air traffic control systems are under strain. The airportapologized Thursday on Twitter for the holiday-season delays.

Watch: A drone expert talks about regulations around airports.

Drone expert talks regulations in light of Gatwick incident

6 years ago

Duration 1:38

A drone expert discusses the challenges and regulatory hurdles in the world of drones. Eric Sazcuk is an instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Tens of thousands of passengers were delayed, diverted or stuck on planes Thursday as the only runway at Britain's Gatwick Airport remained closed into a second day after drones were spotted over the airfield.

Passengers complained on Twitter that their Gatwick-bound flights had landed at London Heathrowairportor in Manchester, Birmingham and other cities, as far away as Paris and Amsterdam.

Canadian Charlotte Mather was trapped at Gatwick after her flight toToronto was rescheduled for Friday morning.

"I think it's crazy that someone would try to fly [a drone] at the airport and that it's been going on for so long now, so it's obviously on purpose," Maher said.

One pilot described "flights diverting all over the place to other airports," on Instagram."This is why we do not like drones!"

AndriKyprianou, from Cyprus, described "freezing" conditions for passengers who spent the night atGatwick'sSouth Terminal. Her flight to Kyivhad beencancelled.

"There were pregnant women, one of them was sleeping on the floor. There were people with small babies in here overnight. We saw disabled people on chairs. There were young children sleeping on the floor,"Kyprianousaid.

Potential prison sentence for drone offenders

Gatwick, about 45 kilometressouth of London, sees more than 43 million passengers a year to short- and long-haul destinations and serves as a major hub for the budget carrier EasyJet.

Gatwick normally operates throughout the night but the number of flights is restricted because of noise limitations. The airport website says it usually handles 18 to 20 flights overnight during the winter.

The airport briefly closed its runway last year when a drone was spotted in the area.

Pilots have reported a sharp rise in "airprox"incidents involving drones in Britain in recent years. Pilots or air traffic controllers in the U.K. may file airprox reports when they feel the distance between two aircraft could compromise safety.

So far this year, the U.K.Airprox Board reported 117 incidentsinvolving drones. Just six incidents involving drones were reported in 2014.

U.K. aviation authorities have warned there is a growing risk that a midair collision between drones and planes, which could cause a major disaster.

Under British law, it is illegal to fly drones within one kilometre of an airport boundary.Flying a drone near an airport carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Christopher Lister, whose flight from Kyiv to Gatwick was diverted to Birmingham in central England, said the scale of the disruption was "a little bit scary."

"We feel grateful it's not a worse story this morning about an aircraft [that has] come down," he told the BBC.