{"id":17580,"date":"2018-12-30T19:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T00:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/gatwick-drones-some-of-the-airport-sightings-may-have-been-police-equipment\/"},"modified":"2018-12-30T19:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T00:54:48","slug":"gatwick-drones-some-of-the-airport-sightings-may-have-been-police-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/?p=17580","title":{"rendered":"Gatwick drones: Some of the airport sightings may have been police equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the drone sightings near Gatwick<\/a> during the airport shutdown may have belonged to police, it has emerged. <\/p>\n

Sussex Chief Constable Giles York made the admission as he said he felt \u201creally sorry\u201d over an innocent couple being held for 36 hours in connection with the disruption.<\/p>\n

He insisted he was \u201cabsolutely certain\u201d a rogue drone caused the three-day pre-Christmas chaos, but added confusion could have been caused as \u201cwe launched our own drones to investigate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr York told Radio 4 that grounds for holding Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk, of Crawley, West Sussex, had been \u201cwell-founded\u201d even though they said they felt violated by their arrest.<\/p>\n

But his apology was only given to Mr Gait: \u201cI am really sorry for what he went through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police have not yet found the drone used to disrupt around 1,000 flights.<\/p>\n

Police have admitted their drones could have added to confusion <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two drones found near the airport have been ruled out of involvement.<\/p>\n

Britain will be expected to up its game<\/a> over airport security following the drone chaos at Gatwick Airport, according to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.<\/p>\n

Cressida Dick said that disrupting flights using a drone was a serious crime and said that anybody charged would be likely to face a prison sentence.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people had their pre-Christmas travel plans ruined after around 1,000 Gatwick flights were cancelled or diverted across three days last week following reports of drones being spotted inside the airport perimeter.<\/p>\n

Ms Dick insisted that dealing with drones is a "challenging thing" and that countries around the world are struggling to keep up with the changing technology.<\/p>\n

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The drone technology is always changing – we have to keep up with that.<\/p>\n

"There are a whole variety of tactics and technologies that we are now using, can use and in the future they will have to change again I'm sure but it is quite difficult.<\/p>\n

Queues forming at the South Terminal in Gatwick Airport <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

"It's a very serious crime and anybody who does this can expect to be charged with serious offences and undoubtedly I think to face a prison sentence.<\/p>\n

"I've been talking to colleagues around the world and I can tell you this is not an easy problem.<\/p>\n

"We are doing our very best here and going into the future I'm sure, working closely with others, we will get better and better.<\/p>\n

"But you won't find a police service in the world, I think, who is sitting complacently thinking we could always deal with a drone.<\/p>\n

"You won't find it. It's a difficult challenge."<\/p>\n

Read More<\/h4>\n

Top news stories from Mirror Online<\/h3>\n