After the UK‘s Gatwick Airport shutdown grounded flights for some 36 hours between December 19–21, UK police have now conceded that there may never have been drone activity in the airspace surrounding the airport.
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As per the BBC, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said that there has been no recorded footage of drones, despite Sussex Police saying that there had been over 60 reports of drone sightings.
Tingley said that there is “always a possibility” that those reporting the sightings may have been mistaken.
Despite this, Tingley assured that the reported sightings were being actively investigated, and that the authorities are conducting a forensic investigation into a damaged drone found near the perimeter of the airport.
On Friday, two people from West Sussex were arrested for the alleged disruption at Gatwick airport. They have since been released without charge.
As reported by the Independent, Tingley said that despite the release, the investigation is not in jeopardy.
We are not back to square one. Whilst these two people have been in custody, we have a number of lines of enquiry and persons of interest.
The Gatwick Airport shutdown forced over 100,000 people to have their flights grounded or cancelled, majorly affecting Christmas and holiday travel.
Honestly airports are absolute chaos at the best of times, so having around a thousand flights suspended for multiple days in the lead up to Christmas is a special level of hell.
The BBC reports that Gatwick Airport has a reward of $89,855 through Crimestoppers for anyone with information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the disrupted flights.
