On the evening of December 19, local time, two jets were intercepted by Gatwick Airport in London, which prompted the order to take off and land from the airport, which was forced to close.
Gatwick Airport is said to be 43 km south of London and the second largest airport in the UK. On the 19th, at 9:00 p.m. local time, the airport suddenly found two industrial-grade drones that could interfere with the aircraft’s take-off and landing, and then the airport closed the runway. The airport reopened at 3 am on the 20th. After 45 minutes, the airport was again interfered with by drones, and authorities then announced the closure of the airport.
Woodrow, head of operations at Gatwick Airport in the UK, said the airport would remain closed until the drone was intercepted. At present, London police have dispatched 20 police forces to search for drone controllers and initially averted the alleged terrorist attacks. The police believe that this is a deliberate premeditated interference with the airport.
Airport police chief Bolton Shuo said that when the police search for drone controllers, the drone will disappear every time they approach the target. When the airport reopens, the drone will appear near the airport runway. Police analysts believe that this was a deliberate interference in the airport incident.
According to the report, this is currently the peak period for travelers on Christmas Eve. At the twentieth local time, affected by the intervention of the drone, 760 flights from the British airport of Gatwick took off and landed and more than 110,000 passengers were disturbed. About 10,000 passengers were forced to stay at the airport.
Under English law, no drone can be released within 1 km of the airport and people who break the rules can be sentenced to a maximum of five years’ imprisonment. Gatwick Airport asks passengers to confirm that the flight can fly normally before traveling to the airport for check-in. The airport’s official website apologizes to all affected passengers and stresses that protecting passengers and flight safety is essential.
Due to jamming incidents caused by drones, most of the flights currently serving Gatwick Airport are being transferred to other cities in the UK, and some flights are temporarily parked at airports such as France and the Countries -Low.
In order to prevent such serious situations from happening again, there should be tools to deal with drones, such as drone jammer, which can block drone signals at specific frequencies and turn them off.