Gatwick Airport: 5 times drones caused chaos

Drones can be really useful for all sorts of reasons - delivering parcels, and taking some amazing film footage to name a few.

But like most technology, in the wrong hands, they can cause havoc.

On Wednesday, flights were grounded at London's Gatwick Airport after drones were seen over the airfield.

The devices were spotted on Wednesday evening sparking a string of delays and diversions.

But this is far from the only times those pesky drones have caused trouble...

1. Fighting fires

Last year, firefighters in the US complained about having to deal with people using drones trying to take photos or videos of forest fires.

Because of this, the emergency services using planes to drop fire retardant from above had to do it from a higher altitude, which basically made it less effective.

2. Security risk

There are laws setting out how and where drones can and can't be flown, but not everyone follows the rules.

When drones are flown over military bases it poses a security risk and in the US troops are allowed to shoot down or disable drones that come too close.

In June this year, it was alleged that a drone was 'deliberately' flown towards a plane landing at RAF Northolt in North West London.

Back in 2015 a drone even crash landed on the White House lawn, sending the president's team into lockdown.

3. Causing injuries

This isn't the drone the German Chancellor was almost hit by...although it might explain why she looks a bit apprehensive about it

In September 2014, a drone flown as part of a protest against government surveillance crashed in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Thankfully Merkel wasn't hit by the drone, but there have been other times when drones have caused injuries.

In an incident in the US, a drone being used in a promotion for a restaurant crashed into the face of a photographer, clipping the end of her nose and cutting her chin.

4. Disrupting sport

Earlier this year a drone stopped play in a match between Yeovil Town and Crawley Town, flying roughly 20 feet above the pitch before disappearing.

Security staff made sure that the ground and surrounding areas were safe before the game was resumed.

There was also an incident during a Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania, after a drone carrying a flag was flown into the stadium.

This prompted an angry reaction from Albanian players and led to a fight, with the game eventually being abandoned.

5. Upsetting wildlife

This was the moment a hawk attacked a drone in Massachusetts in the US

In 2014, a drone being flown in a US park was attacked by a hawk, who seemed to think the drone was invading its territory.

That's far from the only time drones got on the wrong side of nature.

In an incident in the Netherlands, a drone was being used to film for a TV show, but one chimp wasn't happy about being spied on, so she knocked it out of the sky and destroyed it.

There's also been a case of a drone in Norway being taken down by a golden eagle who may have thought it was a rival bird.