Police investigate drone chaos at Gatwick

Stock image of a plane with a drone beside itImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

This picture thankfully wasn't taken at Gatwick Airport!

Thousands of people have had their Christmas travel affected by disruption at London Gatwick.

The airport's runway was shut down for more than a day after drones were spotted flying over it.

Police are investigating what happened.

Two people arrested on Friday night in connection with the drone sightings have been released and police say they are "no longer suspects".

The drones were first spotted on Wednesday evening and the airport's runway was closed at 9pm, sparking a string of delays and diversions.

Problems continued throughout the day on Thursday with hundreds of thousands of passengers' travel plans being disrupted.

There was another drone sighting on Friday evening.

Gatwick is one of the UK's busiest airports, with this a particularly busy week for travel in the run up to Christmas.

Image source, PA

Crowds of passengers have been waiting inside Gatwick's terminal for updates, with many complaining of "freezing" temperatures in the south terminal.

Some people even stayed in the airport overnight, sleeping on the floor while they waited for information.

Dozens of passengers say they've now abandoned their festive travel plans because of the uncertainty over whether flights would get back up and running.

Media caption,

WATCH: Seven-year-old Teddy's trip to Lapland was cancelled

Among these is Teddy who had been due to fly to Lapland with his family to visit Father Christmas.

One of the founders of Lapland UK, has invited Teddy to go and help Father Christmas and the elves there instead.

Others have spent extra money on new flights and hotel stays, and some passengers have been stuck abroad after flights to the UK were either cancelled or diverted.

What are the rules about drones and airports?

The law says:

It is illegal to fly a drone within 1km of an airport or where an airfield is.

Flying above 120m (400ft) is also illegal, because it increases the risk of a collision with a manned aircraft.

Endangering the safety of an aircraft is a criminal offence which can carry a prison sentence of five years.

Gatwick staff are said to be working on plans in case flights are grounded again.

On Thursday Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the government was doing "everything we can to make arrangements with other airports".

Among the measures was the lifting of night-flight restrictions so that "more planes can get into and out of the country", he said.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images