Gatwick “bedlam” as rogue drones see almost 700 flights cancelled

Hundreds of flights have been grounded at Gatwick Airport in London after drones were spotted within the airport boundaries.

Nine Europe Correspondent Amelia Adams told Tony Jones it was “bedlam”.

“These two drones were spotted above the runway at Gatwick about 24 hours ago,” she said.

“It’s incredibly dangerous and potentially catastrophic.

“102,000+ people have been affected, almost 700 flights both in and out cancelled.

“The whole of Europe has been affected.

“It’s crazy that it’s still going on, they’ve just called in the military.”

Peter Gibson, spokesperson with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, told Tony Jones we’ve never had an event of this nature, but it highlights what could happen.

“We have rules which say you cannot fly your drone within 5.5km of an airport,” Peter said.

“We’ve had aircraft in Australia over parts of airports, we’ve had pilots report drones close to airports.

“But we’ve not had this sort of event thankfully.

“It does highlight the risk drones pose to airports.”

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DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik told Justin Smith there wasn’t much that could be done if people spotted a rogue drone on their property.

“My understanding is there’s not a lot people can do except go inside and close the blinds,” he said.

“It’s an exact case where technology is outpacing the legal environment and there’s just no clear determination.”

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Image: AAP (Lines at Gatwick Airport)