LONDON—U.K. authorities arrested a man and woman suspected of unauthorized drone activity that shut down London’s Gatwick Airport and disrupted travel for more than 100,000 passengers during the busy holiday period.
The 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman were arrested late Friday, just a few hours after the latest in a series of flight suspensions at the airport that began late Wednesday, in the nearby town of Crawley. Police were examining a number of unspecified items that they seized at the time of the arrests.
About 1,000 flights into and out of the airport were canceled as a safety measure after the drones were identified over and around the airport Wednesday. Other flights were delayed or diverted. Authorities said about 140,000 passengers were affected by the cancellations, and more were hit by delays.
Police reported about 50 drone sightings during the period, and had been cleared to shoot them down. The military said it deployed specialized equipment believed to include devices to track and potentially take down the unmanned aircraft.
Drone-operating crimes in the U.K. can incur hefty fines and prison sentences of up to five years, though penalties are typically more lenient.
Gatwick Airport, Britain’s No. 2 by passenger numbers, was returning to normal operations just in time for what is expected to be its busiest travel day during the year-end holiday season: More than 140,000 people are expected to pass through the airport on Sunday.
The airport on Saturday said its single runway was open again, though some travel disruptions would continue. It expected 757 flights to take off or land Saturday with 124,484 passengers onboard. Five arrivals and one departure were canceled as of early Saturday.
Airlines use Gatwick mainly for intra-European flights, though airlines such as International Consolidated Airlines Group SA’s British Airways, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. also use the hub for flights to the U.S.
Privately operated drones can be hard to spot on radar because of they are small, fly slowly and can hover. Some tools to bring them down, such as jammers that would disrupt their radio links, are difficult to use in an environment where commercial planes rely on similar links.
Newsletter Sign-up
Authorities previously said the drones flying over and near Gatwick weren’t mere toys but had an “industrial specification.” Still, drone experts were perplexed how long it took to end the disruption.
Regulators have struggled for some time to figure out how to foster commercial drone operations without endangering commercial flights.
Drones have disrupted flights before. Authorities in Mexico this month started investigating a possible collision between a drone and a Boeing 737 jetliner. The Aeromexico flight sustained damage to the nose on landing, though the plane landed safely.
Drone attacks also have become a menace beyond commercial aviation. In August, Venezuela’s government said drones were used in an assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro. A Russian military base in Syria came under drone attack this year.
That has spurred development of an industry to counter drones. Many of those systems are still in development, though, and expensive.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
Bagikan Berita Ini
Related Posts :
New royal 'fab four' stir up images of 2 royal couples of the 1980s- Mideast conflicts connected by vying powerbrokers
- EU leader lights into Trump: 'With friends like that, who needs enemies?'
- Royal wedding: A Church of England classic with a twist
- EU Hardens Against Trump With United Stand on Trade and Iran