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Gatwick shuts down and reopens again after drone spotted

Another drone sighting causes Gatwick Airport to shut down again late afternoon around 17:10 GMT, only to reopen again after 90 minutes. A spokesperson for the airport said that the suspension of all flights in and out of Gatwick was a precaution. Military measures that had been put into place that made it possible for the airport to safely reopen.

Gatwick Airport shuts down and reopens

The drone caused chaos started late Wednesday night and lasted until Friday morning early. Leaving thousands of travelers stuck at Gatwick Airport and other airports around Europe.

Flights resumed again Friday morning after the army was brought in to support the police. The spokesperson for the airport said, according to the BBC that the latest drone sighting was a confirmed drone sighting.

The latest confirmed drone sighting took place around 17:10 GMT and the airport reopened after 90 minutes.

Outbound flights were delayed but not canceled. Eleven inbound flights were diverted to other airports.

One or more drones from possibly multiple culprits

Earlier today officers have said that they had identified “persons of interest”. The latest news is that the police believe that multiple drones had been used and they are investigating the possibility of multiple culprits.

We know now that multiple counter drone measures are in place, among which DJI’s Aeroscope. In other photos, uninformed individuals were seen who appeared to be from the Israeli defense contractor Rafael’s Drone Dome defense system. A drone defense system that the UK had acquired in August 2018 according to The Drive.

Gatwick Airport reopened around 18:30 GMT. In a tweet from Gatwick Airport it said that:

“Flights have now resumed. Airfield movements were suspended while we investigated this as safety remains our main priority. The military measures we have in place at the airport have provided us with reassurance necessary to re-open our airfield.”

Meanwhile, we still have not seen a clear photo of the drone or drones in question.

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Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at DroneDJ, where he covers all drone related news and writes product reviews. He also contributes to the other sites in the 9to5Mac group such as; 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys and Electrek. Haye can be reached at haye@dronedj.com or @hayekesteloo