{"id":6129,"date":"2019-01-09T05:12:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T05:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/heathrow-airport-drone-investigated-by-police-and-military\/"},"modified":"2019-01-09T05:12:02","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T05:12:02","slug":"heathrow-airport-drone-investigated-by-police-and-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/heathrow-airport-drone-investigated-by-police-and-military\/","title":{"rendered":"Heathrow airport drone investigated by police and military"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"Planes at Terminal 5 at Heathrow\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/224C\/production\/_105108780_heathrowdrone_pa.jpg\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">PA<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">The military is helping police after sightings of a drone temporarily halted flights at Heathrow airport on Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p>Scotland Yard said a &#8220;full criminal investigation&#8221; had been launched into the incident &#8211; and that officers were among those to see the drone. <\/p>\n<p>Departures from the west London airport were suspended for about an hour. <\/p>\n<p>It comes after thousands of passengers were caught up in disruption at Gatwick Airport last month following reports of drone sightings.<\/p>\n<p>Heathrow airport, which is also working with the Met Police, said it was monitoring the situation and apologised to passengers affected by the disruption.   <\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-46632892\" class=\"story-body__link\">How can a drone cause so much chaos?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46787730\" class=\"story-body__link\">New powers to tackle illegal drone use<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">&#8216;Extensive searches&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>The Met&#8217;s Commander Stuart Cundy said the drone sighting was reported just after 17:00 GMT, with departing flights stopped as a precaution while initial inquiries were made.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are carrying out extensive searches around the Heathrow area to identify any people who may be responsible for the operation of the drone,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want to be clear that the illegal operation of drones at an airfield is extremely dangerous. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Under the Aviation Security Act it is an offence to endanger the safety of an aircraft; anyone found guilty of this offence could face a life sentence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are deploying significant resources &#8211; both in terms of officers and equipment &#8211; to monitor the airspace around Heathrow and to quickly detect and disrupt any illegal drone activity; some of which are as a result of learning from the incidents at Gatwick.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>While he confirmed military assistance had been brought in, he would not discuss their tactics in detail.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">PA<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/transportgovuk\/status\/1082702617120247808\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said<\/a> during the incident that he was in contact with the airport about the drone sighting, and had spoken to the home secretary and defence secretary.  <\/p>\n<p>A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: &#8220;We are deploying specialist equipment to Heathrow Airport at the request of the Metropolitan Police.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>BBC cameraman Martin Roberts, who works with drones, said he was driving on the M25 past Heathrow airport at about 5:45 GMT when he saw what he believes was a drone. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I could see, I&#8217;d say around 300 feet up, very bright, stationary flashing red and green lights, over the Harmondsworth area,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I could tell it was a drone &#8211; these things have got quite distinctive lights &#8211; not a helicopter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The lights were very close together. It was a very clear night and the object was stationary, it was turning very, very slightly. I could see it very clearly, I&#8217;d say for about four to five minutes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46754489\" class=\"story-body__link\">Gatwick said last week<\/a> that it had spent \u00a35m to prevent future attacks. Heathrow also confirmed it would be buying systems to guard against drones.<\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46787730\" class=\"story-body__link\">it was announced this week<\/a> that police would be given new powers to tackle the illegal use of drones.   <\/p>\n<p>BBC transport correspondent Tom Burridge said while the &#8220;significant&#8221; incident did not cause the same disruption as at Gatwick, it raises the question of how UK airports can deal with drones.<\/p>\n<p>While they are looking at the latest technology, it is clear they are &#8220;playing catch-up&#8221; he said &#8211; adding that the aviation industry had been calling for &#8220;drastic action on this for months&#8221;. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"story-body__line\"\/>\n<p><strong>Alice Evans, BBC London, at Heathrow<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A couple of hours after the first reports of a drone in the skies above Heathrow, it was business as usual in the Terminal 5 departure lounge &#8211; in a low blow to Gatwick, one member of staff told me it&#8217;s because &#8220;we&#8217;re a good airport&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Although flights were up and running again pretty quickly, there are still plenty of passengers who have faced disruption tonight.<\/p>\n<p>One of those is Catriona Walsh, who was on a flight from Basel.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Walsh, who was doing a couple of days of work despite being on maternity leave, said she won&#8217;t get to her final stop in Wales for another couple of hours now that she has missed her train.<\/p>\n<p>Her flight was held on the runway for about 50 minutes as staff told passengers about the drone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was all calm &#8211; frustrating rather than worrying,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Michael, a fellow passenger on the flight who did not want to provide his surname, was less optimistic.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was worried I might have to camp here,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the problems here and at Gatwick have shown &#8220;exactly how to shut a country &#8211; this country &#8211; down&#8221;, adding that police need to &#8220;just shoot drones down&#8221; as soon as they are sighted.  <\/p>\n<hr class=\"story-body__line\"\/>\n<p>More than 140,000 passengers at Gatwick were affected during 36 hours of chaos between 19 and 21 December.<\/p>\n<p>About 1,000 flights were cancelled there over three days due to the drone sightings.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Has your journey been affected? Tell us about your experience by emailing <\/strong><a href=\"mailto:haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk?subject=Heathrow46803713\" class=\"story-body__link-email\"><span class=\"icon email\"\/><span class=\"story-body__link-email-text\">haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk<\/span><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">WhatsApp: +44 7555 173285<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Tweet: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBC_HaveYourSay\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">@BBC_HaveYourSay<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Text or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100 <\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Send pictures\/video to <a href=\"mailto:yourpics@bbc.co.uk\" class=\"story-body__link-email\"><span class=\"icon email\"\/><span class=\"story-body__link-email-text\">yourpics@bbc.co.uk<\/span><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Or upload <a href=\"https:\/\/bbcnewsupload.streamuk.com\/\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">your pictures\/video here<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Please read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/terms\/\" class=\"story-body__link\">our terms &amp; conditions<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/usingthebbc\/privacy\/\" class=\"story-body__link\">privacy policy<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46804425\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright PA The military is helping police after sightings of a drone temporarily halted flights at Heathrow airport on Tuesday. Scotland Yard said a &#8220;full criminal investigation&#8221; had been launched into the incident &#8211; and that officers were among those to see the drone. Departures from the west London airport were suspended for about &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}