Gatwick drone incident was an inside job, according to Sussex Police

An insider was probably behind the pre-Christmas chaos at Gatwick Airport after a drone shut the airport for 33 hours, a senior executive and police have admitted.

The culprit may even have been inside the complex of Britain’s second busiest airport as they brought it to a standstill.

Around 140,000 passengers were affected as 1,000 flights were cancelled or diverted, despite a huge operation to catch whoever was responsible.

Sussex Police and airport officials believe that the Gatwick drone flier was an airport insider

Numerous sightings of drones were reported as police and the military became involved.

Four months on the drone operators have still not been identified and Gatwick’s chief operating officer told BBC’s Panorama they appeared to have been aware of the airport’s procedures.

Chris Woodroofe(CORR), who was the ‘Gold Commander’ overseeing the response to the attack, said in his first interview about the crisis: 

‘It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport.’ They appeared either to be able to see what was happening on the runway or were following the airport’s response by eavesdropping on radio or internet connections.

Sussex Police told the programme they backed the ‘insider’ theory, saying it ‘was treated as a credible line of enquiry from the earliest stages of the police response’.

The force even admitted the operator could have been guiding the drone from a building within the perimeter of the airport.

In February, Whitehall sources suggested a disgruntled employee could have been behind the drone attack.

One said the pilot ‘knew the blind spots for it, where it could not be hit’.

The disruption began at 9.03pm on December 19 when flights were grounded after two drones were spotted. It continued until the morning of the 21st.

Sussex Police were criticised when drone enthusiast Paul Gait, 47, and his wife Elaine, 54, from nearby Craley, were arrested.

About 140,000 people were affected as 1,000 flights were cancelled or diverted during the incident

About 140,000 people were affected as 1,000 flights were cancelled or diverted during the incident

They were held in custody for 36 hours before being released.

Mr Woodroofe told Panorama the airport had not overreacted by shutting down, saying it was faced with an unprecedented ‘malicious’ and ‘criminal’ attack.

Runways must be closed if a drone is present under airport protocol mandates, he said.

‘There is absolutely nothing that I would do differently when I look back at the incident because, ultimately, my number one priority has to be to maintain the safety of our passengers and that’s what we did,’ he added.

Gatwick Airport COO Chris Woodroofe said: 'It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport.'

Gatwick Airport COO Chris Woodroofe said: ‘It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport.’

‘And it was terrible that 140,000 people’s journeys were disrupted but everyone was safe.’ He also denied claims the number of sightings had been exaggerated or the theory there had never been a drone in the area, saying they were reported by ‘trusted’ people he had worked with for years.

No verified photos of the drones were taken. But Sussex Police confirmed it had recorded 130 separate drone sightings by 115 people, all but six of whom were either air traffic control staff and pilots, security personnel and police officers.

Gatwick spent £5 million on anti-drone equipment in the days after the attack but Mr Woodroofe defended the airport, saying the government had not approved systems prior to the incident.

‘The equipment I have on site today is painted sand yellow because it comes straight from the military environment,’ he said.

The disruption began at 9.03pm on December 19 and continuued until the morning of December 21

The disruption began at 9.03pm on December 19 and continuued until the morning of December 21

Two sets of drone detection and defeat devices, known as AUDS and made by a consortium of British companies, have been bought by the airport.

They are one of two types of drone detection systems deployed by the military at Gatwick on the evening of December 20.

Mr Woodroofe added he had confidence in the current protection, which is tested by sending up a drone every day.

‘We would know the drone was arriving on site and we’d know where that drone had come from, where it was going to and we’d have a much better chance of catching the perpetrator,’ he said.

Mr Woodroofe denied that the airport had overreacted by shutting the entire airport down for almost two days

Mr Woodroofe denied that the airport had overreacted by shutting the entire airport down for almost two days

He also warned what happened at Gatwick ‘could be carried over into other industries and other environments’.

Heathrow – Europe’s busiest airport – was closed for almost an hour in January after a suspected drone sighting.

It came days after Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced measures to combat the threat of drones.

They included expanding the no-fly zone for drones around airports from two-thirds of a mile to three miles, a registration scheme for owners and on-the-spot fines for minor offences.

· BBC Panorama, The Gatwick Drone Attack, is on BBC1 tonight(MON 15th) at 8.30pm. 

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