Flights were suspended at Gatwick Airport following reports of drones flying close to the airfield. Here we look at the law surrounding drones.

What are the restrictions around flying drones near airports?

Earlier this year, new laws came into force which ban all drones from flying above 400ft and within 1km of airport boundaries.

Drone users who flout the height and airport boundary restrictions could face an unlimited fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

Research funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) found that a drone weighing 400g could smash a helicopter windscreen, and one weighing 2kg could critically damage an airliner’s windscreen.

Are there any other laws to bear in mind?

Laws introduced to the Commons in May mean people flying drones which weigh 250g or more will have to register with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Drone pilots will be required to take an online safety test under the new legislation, with the requirements set to come into force in November next year.

In July, the DfT said it was considering introducing an age restriction, banning children from owning drones weighing at least 250g.

It also said it was considering giving police the power to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £300 for misuse and the ability to seize drones being used irresponsibly.</s>LONDON — Drones spotted over the runway forced the shutdown of London's Gatwick Airport on Thursday during one of the busiest times of the year, stranding or delaying tens of thousands of Christmas-season travellers and setting off a hunt for the operator of the intruding aircraft.

The prospect of a deadly collision between what police called "industrial"-grade drones and an airliner led authorities to stop all flights in and out.

Police said that they had no doubt the intrusion was a deliberate attempt to disrupt operations at the airport during a peak period but that there were "absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related."

About 20 police units from two forces tried in vain to find the drone operator as soon as the first unmanned aircraft was spotted above Gatwick on Wednesday evening. Police told airport officials it was too risky to try to shoot down the drones — stray bullets might kill someone.

"Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears," said Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw. He said the newer-generation drones are bigger and have more range, making it harder for police to zero in on the person controlling the device.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the military would be deployed to help police. He said the armed forces would bring "unique capabilities" but gave no details.

Drones could get sucked into a jet engine or crash through a windshield, incapacitating the pilot.

The crisis at Gatwick had a ripple effect on air travel in Britain, continental Europe and beyond as incoming flights were sent to other locations and outgoing ones were stopped.

Travellers described freezing conditions overnight at Gatwick as hundreds slept on benches and floors, and passengers and their families complained they weren't being kept informed about re-routed flights.

"We understand it's an emergency situation, but the lack of information is really surprising," said Vanessa Avila, an American based in Britain who works for the U.S. military. Her mother was on a flight from Florida to Gatwick that ended up landing in the northern English city of Manchester.</s>Flights at the United Kingdom's Gatwick Airport, the second busiest in the country, have been grounded for more than 20 hours at least due to small drones flying in the vicinity. The incident, which comes right as hundreds of thousands of travelers are beginning to set out for the holidays, underscores the dangers that easy to obtain hobbyist type unmanned aerial vehicles, such as quad- and hex-copter designs, present at home and on the battlefield. It's a growing, but glaringly foreseeable threat that we at The War Zone have been raising the alarm about for years.

Authorities at Gatwick halted all incoming and outgoing flights first at 9:00 PM local time on Dec. 19, 2018, after sightings of multiple drones. Officials tentatively expected that order to be lifted at 3:00 AM on Dec. 20, 2019, but have now extended the closure to at least 4:00 PM, as they continue to coordinate with Sussex Police and the U.K. military to ensure that it is safe to resume airport operations. Flights already in the air headed for Gatwick got diverted to other airports as far away as Paris, France. Approximately 110,000 people across 760 flights were set to use Gatwick on the 20th.

"We are carrying out a joint search w/ @Gatwick_Airport for the operators of #drones sighted at #Gatwick," the Sussex Police wrote in a Tweet on their official account on Dec. 20, 2018. "Public safety is paramount and we will take all available actions to disrupt this deliberate act. There are no indications to suggest this is terror related." Under new regulations that the United Kingdom enacted on July 30, 2018, it is illegal for private citizens to fly small drones above 400 feet and within just over a half a mile of an airport perimeter. U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May has said any suspects involved in the incident face prison time when they are caught.

The most immediate danger from the small drones to air traffic at and around the airport is that they might collide with an airliner. If the remote-controlled aerial vehicles ended up ingested into a jet engine, banging into in a propeller, or crashing through the windscreen of an aircraft the results could be particularly devastating. It is unclear what tools authorities have employed or considered employing so far to neutralize or mitigate the hazard. Airports typically have various protective measures in place to chase away birds, which present some of the same potential problems. However, these tools, such devices that create loud noises to scare flocks away, would have no impact on a drone. Pictures have emerged showing members of the Sussex Police carrying shotguns, which they could use to try to shoot down the drones. Some companies have developed specialized shotgun shells to reduce the chance of missed shots posing a threat to nearby innocent bystanders or private property. Police helicopters have also been involved in the search for the operators of the remotely piloted aircraft.

"Sussex Police have requested some support from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help that they need to help deal with the situation at Gatwick Airport," U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson told reporters later that same day. "Sadly, at this moment, it [what we are deploying] is not something we can actually reveal, but the armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something we would usually deploy, but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity."

These military capabilities most likely include additional tools to defeat the drones themselves and locate the individuals controlling them. Military short-range air defense or counter-battery radars, able to spot low-flying and even smaller targets, such as artillery shells and mortar bombs, could be useful in monitoring the drones and potentially tracing them back to an originating point. Electronic warfare systems, either on the ground or in the air, that can detect and geolocate transmitters, such as the drone's control unit, would also help immensely. The U.K. military could also have more effective means of knocking the drones out of the sky, as well. Faced with the growing use of small drones, sometimes carrying grenade-like munitions, by both nation-state militaries and non-state actors, such as terrorists, militaries around the world have been investing heavily in active countermeasures. The most common examples are man-portable and vehicle-mounted radio frequency jammers, though more advanced systems, including solid-state lasers and high-power microwave directed energy weapons are also in development. The jamming systems typically work by breaking the command link between the controller and the drone, either causing it to fall out of the sky or follow a pre-programmed route back to its operator. In the latter case, this could also help in finding the individuals responsible. Jammers do have a significant number of limitations, though, including their relatively indiscriminate focus, which can interrupt signals from other nearby emitters operating on the same or adjacent frequencies. Jamming systems that work on a more narrow range of frequencies, or have more limited power, may mitigate those issues, but also have more limited effectiveness.

But however British officials ultimately tackle the situation at Gatwick, it will provide yet another call to action to further investigate how to regulate civilian use of small drones and how to defend against them when they become threatening. These are concerns we at The War Zone have raised on numerous occasions and you can read about them in greater detail here and here. The hazard of small drones flying near airports is hardly new. In 2017, there were reportedly 100 potentially dangerous interactions between manned aircraft and drones in the United Kingdom alone, according to the BBC. Remember, the drones at Gatwick have done nothing but fly near the airport, as well. On July 2, 2017, another drone intruder shut down Gatwick for a total of just 14 minutes, causing headaches for hours afterward. It will take days, if not longer, for the cascading impacts of these cancellations and delays, which have already stranded thousands of individuals or forced them to seek alternative travel options, will take days, due to this new incident to finally disappear. Gatwick had expected to see nearly 3 million travel through its facilities during this holiday season and 143,000 are presently booked to fly in and out of the airport just on Dec. 30, 2018. This means that individuals responsible have been able to cause millions of dollars worth of economic damage with drones you can buy online right now for less than $5,000. Between diversions and people scrambling to find other ways of getting where they need to go, these impacts can easily spill over to other airports, as well. Perhaps the best example of an extreme worst-case situation is when nation-wide civilian air traffic in the United States ground to a halt in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the impact of which is described in the video below. It took the airline industry years to fully recover from the billions of dollars worth of losses.</s>The airport was shut down at 9:03 p.m. on Wednesday due to reports of two drones flying over the airfield, the airport said in a statement.

"We advise everyone flying from Gatwick, or collecting someone from the airport, Thursday 20th December, to check the status of their flight," the airport wrote.

Sussex Police called the flying of the drones over the airfield "a deliberate act," but said there was no indication the drones were terror-related.

The airport said "a number" of flights were diverted to other airports and airlines were "working to provide affected passengers with hotel accommodation or transport passengers landing at other airports to Gatwick by other means."

There were no flights landing or taking off for about six hours -- from 9:03 p.m. to 3:01 a.m. -- and Gatwick announced it was "working, with the airport community, to catch up on the flight schedule."

That optimism was short-lived, as just 44 minutes later the airport announced another drone had been sighted and the airfield was again closed.

"We apologise to any affected passengers for this inconvenience but the safety of our passengers and all staff is our number one priority," the airport said in a statement.

About 10,000 people were affected by the issue, Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief operating officer, told The Associated Press.

A joint search was being carried out by Sussex Police and the airport for the operators of the drones, authorities said.

An Aeromexico flight may have been struck by a drone just a week ago. The flight landed in Tijuana without issue, but authorities were investigating what caused a large gash in the plane's nose.

Gatwick Airport, located about 30 miles south of London, is the second-busiest airport in the U.K., after London's Heathrow Airport. It is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe, according to aviation site anna.aero.

Thursday is expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year, as people head home for the Christmas holidays. U.S. airlines expected to carry 45.7 million passengers from Thursday through Jan. 6, according to Airlines for America.</s>LONDON — Drones spotted over the runway forced the shutdown of London's Gatwick Airport on Thursday during one of the busiest times of the year, stranding or delaying tens of thousands of Christmas-season travellers and setting off a hunt for the operator of the intruding aircraft.

The prospect of a deadly collision between what police called "industrial"-grade drones and an airliner led authorities to stop all flights in and out.

Police said that they had no doubt the intrusion was a deliberate attempt to disrupt operations at the airport during a peak period but that there were "absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related."

About 20 police units from two forces tried in vain to find the drone operator as soon as the first unmanned aircraft was spotted above Gatwick on Wednesday evening. Police told airport officials it was too risky to try to shoot down the drones — stray bullets might kill someone.

"Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears," said Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw. He said the newer-generation drones are bigger and have more range, making it harder for police to zero in on the person controlling the device.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the military would be deployed to help police. He said the armed forces would bring "unique capabilities" but gave no details.

Drones could get sucked into a jet engine or crash through a windshield, incapacitating the pilot.

The crisis at Gatwick had a ripple effect on air travel in Britain, continental Europe and beyond as incoming flights were sent to other locations and outgoing ones were stopped.

Travellers described freezing conditions overnight at Gatwick as hundreds slept on benches and floors, and passengers and their families complained they weren't being kept informed about re-routed flights.

"We understand it's an emergency situation, but the lack of information is really surprising," said Vanessa Avila, an American based in Britain who works for the U.S. military. Her mother was on a flight from Florida to Gatwick that ended up landing in the northern English city of Manchester.</s>One of the UK's busiest airports had to suspend or divert all flights after drones were seen over its airfield.

The disruption at Gatwick Airport, which is 30 miles south of London and Britain's second busiest, started around 9 p.m. local time Wednesday after a pair of drones were spotted, according to the BBC.

The runway remained closed until 3 a.m., but was shut down again 45 minutes later after "a further sighting of drones." It was still closed as of Thusday morning and police are hunting for the drones' operator, Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief operating officer, told the BBC.

"There are no indications to suggest this is terror related," Sussex Police tweeted on Thursday, before seeking the public's help to identify the operator.

It's illegal to fly a drone within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of an airport or airfield boundary, and you can't fly it above 120 meters (400 feet) because it increases the likelihood of an aircraft hitting it.

Around 110,000 passengers on 760 flights were due to use the airport on Thursday, Gatwick told BBC, and some of the overnight flights were diverted to Paris and Amsterdam.

"We are working hard with our airlines to get information to passengers but would advise anyone booked onto flights from Gatwick, or meeting arriving passengers, not to travel to the airport without checking the status of the flight with their airline," the airport said in a Thursday release.

Gatwick didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment.

In August, Gatwick was forced to post flight information on white boards after its digital screens failed due to an IT glitch.

Follow the Money: This is how digital cash is changing the way we save, shop and work.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition.</s>In a scary preview of the disruptions that could soon become commonplace in our technology-infused future, London's Gatwick airport has been shut down for more than 13 hours due to mysterious drones flying "over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from". Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded in the airport's "freezing" terminals during the holiday rush, according to reports in the BBC and the Guardian.

According to the Guardian, which is providing live coverage of the ongoing disruption, Chris Woodroofe, the airport's chief operating officer, apologized to passengers and explained during a Sky News interview that the drones would not be shot down because of the risks posed by stray bullets. Police are asking the public's help in finding the drone operators.

Police have been searching the perimeter of the airport to find the operators of the drones - who could face up to five years in prison if apprehended. The incident has kickstarted a conversation in the UK about imposing tighter regulations on drone operators (and stiffer penalties for anybody operating drones without the proper authorization).

While two drones had terrorized the runway for most of Wednesday evening. The BBC reported that 110,000 passengers had been expected to use the airport on Thursday, traveling on 760 flights. Gatwick had been expecting a record number of passengers during the holiday travel season.

The runway was briefly reopened at about 3 am London Time (10 pm ET), but was swiftly closed when the drones returned. the airport said, but forced to close again about 45 minutes later amid "a further sighting of drones".

The closure - now in its 13th hour - has been extended until at least noon London time (7 am ET).

The government has criticized the drone operators as acting '"incredibly irresponsibly":

Gatwick, which is London's second-busiest airport after Heathrow, is advising passengers not to travel to the airport without checking with their airline first. Though the motives of the drone operators remain shrouded in mystery, Sussex Police have said "There is absolutely nothing to suggest that this is terrorism-related."

It is illegal to fly a drone within one kilometer of an airport. Incoming planes are being diverted to other UK airports, including Heathrow, and some have been rerouted as far away as Amsterdam and Paris.

One passenger who spoke with the BBC and the Guardian described a chaotic scene in the terminal, where pregnant women were seen sleeping on the floor.

The cancellations have sown widespread confusion among passengers, who are struggling to figure out whether their flights have been rescheduled or moved to different airports.

Arthur Serbejs, 22, and Domante Balciuniate, 21, factory workers from Hastings, sat on the floor by a prayer room, approaching their 16th hour of waiting for a flight to Barcelona. "We came about 6pm yesterday, and we’re going to be here until like 7pm," Serbejs said. "At 9pm yesterday we were on the plane for four hours - they turned the lights off and everything like it was going to take off." "But we were still sitting there," Balciunate added. Serbejs said he had fallen asleep while the plane sat on the apron, hoping to wake up in Spain, "and I woke up and we hadn’t moved." Eventually they were taken off the flight, and offered a hotel in Brighton, which they declined as they live close by. They were told they would get an email with a ticked for another flat, but none came. "We stood in line for three hours for a 30 second conversation saying 'your flight has already been transferred hours ago,' but we didn’t know about it," Serbejs said.

Several techniques have been devised for safely disabling rogue drones, including this surprisingly low-tech solution, devised by Dutch police:</s>The flying of drones at Gatwick, which has caused the runway to be closed, is "a deliberate act to disrupt the airport", police said.

Tens of thousands of passengers are suffering travel chaos after all flights at the West Sussex airport were suspended.

The runway was closed at 9pm on Wednesday after two of the devices were seen near the airfield.

It was reopened at 3am on Thursday, but was shut again 45 minutes later after a further sighting of drones.

At 9.15am, the airport said there was "ongoing drone activity" and the runway remained closed.

At 11.15am Gatwick said all flights remained suspended following reports of drones flying over the airfield.

"There is significant disruption at Gatwick today as a result of what appears to be a deliberate attempt to disrupt flights," the airport said.

"We are extremely disappointed that passengers are being affected by this, especially at such an important time of year.

"We are prioritising the welfare of those at the airport by deploying staff into our terminals to look after people as best we can.

"We are working hard with our airlines to get information to passengers but would advise anyone booked onto flights from Gatwick, or meeting arriving passengers, not to travel to the airport without checking the status of the flight with their airline or on our website first."

Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw, of Sussex Police, said: "We believe this to be a deliberate act to disrupt the airport. However, there are absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related."

More than 20 police units from two forces are searching for the perpetrator.

Mr Burtenshaw added: "Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears; when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears."

Asked if he thought the operator would be caught, he said: "I'm convinced we will. It's a painstaking thing with the new drones - the bigger the drone, the bigger the reach of the operator, so it's a difficult and challenging thing to locate them, but I've got teams now and I've got investigators looking at how we do that, and I'm confident we will."

Some 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night, and a further 110,000 were due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights on Thursday.

Gatwick's MP, Tory Henry Smith, wrote on Twitter: "The closure of Gatwick Airport for 12 hours now due to drone flying appears to be a deliberate criminal act with geofencing breached."

The airport's chief operating officer, Chris Woodroofe, blasted the "irresponsible" drone use.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that two of the gadgets had been seen flying "over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from".

Mr Woodroofe added that the drones had sparked "very significant disruption for passengers" but police did not want to shoot them down because of the risk from stray bullets.

Aviation minister Baroness Sugg said: "These drones have been flown illegally and the operators, who have acted incredibly irresponsibly, could face up to five years in jail."

Passengers faced severe disruption as flights were unable to leave the tarmac while others were diverted to alternative airports.

Some people reported being left stuck on planes for several hours while they waited to find out what was going on.

Aviation website airlive.net said inbound flights were diverted to a range of UK airports as well as Amsterdam and Paris.

Lyndsey Clarke, from Southend, said she was stuck on a plane for more than four hours after it was re-routed to Stansted.

The 27-year-old said passengers were having to get taxis back to Gatwick after they were finally allowed off the aircraft.

Luke McComiskie's plane ended up in Manchester, and he described chaotic scenes as people tried to find their way home after more than three hours stuck on board.

The 20-year-old, from Aldershot, told the Press Association: "We got told there would be some arrangements with coaches for us when we get out the terminal ... It was just chaos and they had only two coaches and taxis charging people £600 to get to Gatwick."

In the latest statement on the incident, a Gatwick spokeswoman said: "Flights to and from Gatwick Airport remain suspended following reports of drones flying over Gatwick's airfield last night and in the early hours of this morning.

"We are advising passengers scheduled to fly from Gatwick not to travel to the airport without checking the status of their flight with their airline this morning. We apologise for the inconvenience, but the safety of all passengers and staff is our first priority."

Dr Rob Hunter, head of flight safety at the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), said: "The public needs to understand that drones are not just toys and could have catastrophic consequences if they collide with an aircraft.

"We know a lot of drones will be under people's Christmas trees and we implore them to ensure they're aware of the rules and fly their drones in a safe and sensible manner."

"These drone sightings at Gatwick are further evidence that tougher laws and enforcement are required to keep drones clear of manned flights.

"That's why we need the registration and education process in force sooner rather than later, so people flouting the law can be caught and prosecuted.

"At the same time, BALPA is also calling for the Government to consider toughening the law to create a larger no-fly zone around airports.

"We need to ensure people flying drones take responsibility for their actions and do so responsibly with the knowledge that if they endanger an aircraft they could face jail."

EasyJet is advising passengers not to travel to airports if their flight has been cancelled.

A spokeswoman for the airline said: "Like other airlines, easyJet diverted a number of flights due to land at London Gatwick to other airports across the UK.

"As a result of this, aircraft and crew remain out of position at airports away from London Gatwick, which has resulted in a number of cancellations this morning.

"We advise all customers flying to and from London Gatwick today to not travel to the airport if they are on flights which have been cancelled.

"EasyJet has offered affected passengers who were diverted last night ground transportation to reach London Gatwick and hotel accommodation was provided for those who required it.

"Passengers who arranged their own transportation will be reimbursed by easyJet. Customers on cancelled flights will be entitled to a free of charge transfer to an alternative flight."

Dozens of people were perched on seats with jackets and coats used as makeshift blankets after being stranded in the airport overnight.

Mamosta Abdulla said he was on an Iraq-bound flight on Wednesday evening before getting stuck on the tarmac for four hours and will now miss his father's memorial service.

He said: "We got here at 6pm and should have flown at 9.10pm, but we were stuck four hours on the plane with a crying baby, the child was disabled and everyone was sweating because it was so hot in there.

"They gave us hope by showing us the safety procedure and then five minutes later they say nobody is flying.

"We got given a £12 refreshment voucher each after a couple hours of waiting and that's it.

"We've had to sleep in a freezing place, on uncomfortable chairs.

"We are in Iraq with bombs going off nearby and the plane still lands! But here some drones have shut down the airport."

A Gatwick spokesman said 110,000 passengers were due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights on Thursday.

He was unable to state how many of these passengers had already been affected but the first wave of flights is normally the busiest time of the day.

Around 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night after the runway was closed at 9.03pm.

Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport if their flight is cancelled.

Joseph Ouechen, a photographer from Morocco, was due to fly into Gatwick on Wednesday night but had his flight diverted to Paris.

After arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport at midnight, passengers with visas for the Schengen area were taken to a hotel but those without - "about 20%" - were left in the airport to fend for themselves, he said.

"There were families with babies who couldn't get to their suitcases for their milk and stuff," he said.

"We were asking just for a favour if (airport staff) could help but they said they couldn't do anything."

Firefighters eventually crossed the border through passport control with blankets and water at 3.30am, he said.

"To be honest, I'm so tired and when the guys from the fire (service) came with the bottles and blankets I was feeling like a war, like (I was) a refugee, but I'm just flying to the UK.

"It's surreal. I was flying to the UK and now there are firemen bringing me water and blankets."

Andri Kyprianou, from Cyprus, who had been visiting London, said she saw a pregnant woman sleeping on the floor and passengers with infants spending the night in the "freezing" South Terminal.

She said she got to the airport at 12.30am for a 3am flight to Cyprus via Kiev, only to find it had been cancelled, and that the next connection in Kiev is on Sunday.

She said: "I haven't slept since yesterday morning, we are very tired. It's freezing, we are cold, having to wear all of these coats for extra blankets.

"There were pregnant women, one of them was sleeping on the floor. There were people with small babies in here overnight, we saw disabled people on chairs.

"There were young children sleeping on the floor."

She said she will have to spend a night in Kiev, but she had been told by Ukrainian Airlines that there may be a chance of an alternative connection through Tel Aviv.

"Hopefully they will arrange a hotel for us so we don't have another night in an airport," she added.

Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg said the Government was considering extending police powers to prevent drones causing airport disruption in the future.

She told BBC News: "I think it's important to be clear this is a crime, this drone is being flown illegally.

"Earlier this year we changed the law to make it illegal to fly within a kilometre of an airport and I know that police are out and trying to bring the drone down as quickly as possible.

"This is an illegal act. We are also looking to extend police powers and early in the new year we'll be looking at our next steps on that.

"The other thing we're looking at is counter-drone technology. Technology in this area is obviously moving incredibly quickly, but we need to make sure we're able to stop such activity in future."

Baroness Sugg said authorities were hoping to get Gatwick open as quickly as possible as people travel for the Christmas break.

She added: "Our priority is to get that airport open as safely as possible so that people can fly off on their Christmas breaks, or people who are coming in to visit friends and family.

"The police are working to bring the drone down, and I am confident that they will do so. "

A mother said she has suffered an "emotional disaster" after spending the night on a cold floor with her eight-year-old-daughter and three-year-old son.

Yulia Hristova, who was meant to fly to Istanbul via Kiev at 3am and has been at the airport since midnight, said: "With two kids I'm in a difficult position, I'm so tired, I'm so upset, we've had no information.

"We were standing for hours, nobody's been on the desk. It was so cold. We were sleeping on the floor, me and my children. I lost my son during the night, and a policeman brought him back.

"I was meant to be reunited with my family, my kids were so excited they didn't sleep until 6am, they were waiting to get on the plane.

"It's been an emotional disaster.

"I'm so exhausted, I don't want to stress out but it's very worrying. What's going to happen to us in Ukraine? What if we run out of money? Are the airline going to put us in a hotel?

"I want to give up right now, it's making me so anxious."

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has said the use of drones that have shut down Gatwick Airport is "absolutely unacceptable".

She said: "Our hearts go out to all those who are desperately trying to go on holiday or arrive in the UK via Gatwick.

"It's absolutely unacceptable. I know the police are doing all they can to catch the operators of these drones."

Speaking during business questions in the Commons, Mrs Leadsom added interfering with flights using a drone was a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

Gatwick's chief operating officer, Chris Woodroofe, confirmed a recent drone sighting and said disruption would continue for several days.

He told BBC News: "There are 110,000 passengers due to fly today, and the vast majority of those will see cancellations and disruption.

"We have had within the last hour another drone sighting so at this stage we are not open and I cannot tell you what time we will open.

"It was on the airport, seen by the police and corroborated. So having seen that drone that close to the runway it was unsafe to reopen.

"Realistically if we do reopen today, what the airlines will seek to do is deal with the passengers who are on site and to prepare for an operation tomorrow morning where we repatriate passengers who are in the wrong place.

"It's realistically going to take several days to recover."

Oxford University lecturer Imma Oliveras got up at 4am to catch her flight back to the United States to see her family.

She said: "When I arrived at the airport at 6am there were already lines throughout the terminal, which was very full.

“People were trying to keep calm, but we were not getting very much information. They told us the runway would reopen at 8am, but then they told us on the loudspeaker that this was not the case.

“It is frustrating, and if people are flying drones it is very irresponsible in this area. But how is it possible for them to be allowed to fly a drone in this area? If it is deliberate, I hope they get them.”

Meanwhile Ben Daniels has been trying to return to his home in Crawley with his wife after a trip to Hamburg in Germany.

He said: "We saw the disruption at the airport and that planes were being diverted, so we decided to avoid it and make our own way back.

“We have had to shell out £500 in total to get back, we can’t afford to be stranded out here waiting for a plane to turn up.

"It is extremely dangerous. I don’t think people realise that from the smallest to the biggest aircraft carrying hundreds of people, if a drone strikes the plane it could be catastrophic.

"I don’t understand the thinking behind the individual or individuals responsible.”

Have you been affected by the delays? Contact the newsroom on 01273 021383 or email news@theargus.co.uk.</s>London's Gatwick Airport Closed Because Of 'Criminal' Behavior With Drones

Giant drones have continued to appear at London's Gatwick Airport, forcing the airport to close. Officials encouraged travelers to stay away until they get confirmation that flights have resumed.

Stewart Wingate, the airport's CEO, called it "criminal behaviour," targeted activity meant to shut down the airport and "bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas."

The Sussex Police, which oversees the area, has been bombarded by calls about drone sightings in the vicinity, controller Mark Laurent told NPR.

"There are still sightings which we are investigating, as and when they come up," he said. "It's still very much an ongoing matter at the moment."

The military was also called in, he said. "Military assistance was requested for specialist equipment to secure the airfield."

It is a criminal offense to fly the drones where they have been sighted, Laurent said, but there was "no reason to suspect" it was a terrorist act.

The flight disruptions and cancelations triggered chaos for passengers as the effects rippled outward from the busy airport.

In an update at 5 p.m. local time Thursday, the airport said its sole runway "remains out of operation with no flights arriving or departing."

Two drones were seen flying over the airfield south of London around 9 p.m. local time Wednesday, the airport said in a tweet. Gatwick was able to briefly open around 3 a.m., but more drone reports followed.

"I have a drone on my airfield," Gatwick's Chief Operating Officer Chris Woodroofe told the BBC.

Transport Minister Chris Grayling said this was "not the classic, plastic garden drone" but "a commercial-sized drone that is clearly being operated deliberately in a way that every time Gatwick tries to reopen the runway, the drones reappear."

Sussex Police said on Twitter that the drones were believed to be "of an industrial specification."

They ruined travel plans for some 10,000 people Wednesday night alone, according to Woodroofe. Breaking down that number, he said 6,000 passengers were forced to divert to other airports, 2,000 were never able to take off for Gatwick and another 2,000 couldn't fly out of the airport.

Because of the diversions, passengers who had been expecting to land near London were instead flown to a range of cities, from Liverpool and Manchester in Britain to Paris, Bordeaux and Amsterdam in Europe, according to data from the air traffic tracking site Flightradar24.

U.K. law bans drones from flying within 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) of any airport. The British government says that if a drone operator is found to break the rules, it "could result in an unlimited fine, up to five years in prison, or both."

"The big fear, of course, has been that a drone hits an aircraft and brings it down," said Alan McKenna, a professor at the University of Kent. In an interview with NPR's Windsor Johnston, he added that the threat posed by the drones at Gatwick has already incurred a "very serious economic cost."

Gatwick is the U.K.'s second-largest airport and serves some 46 million passengers a year. The airport recently said it expects 2.9 million passengers during the upcoming holiday season. But images Thursday showed an idled airport, with jetliners sitting on the tarmac beneath a clear, sunny sky.

With flights suspended just days before the holiday season kicks off, the airport advised people with tickets for flights Thursday, "Please do not travel to Gatwick without checking the status of your flight with your airline."

The police department issued an appeal to the public asking for information about the drones' operators. It was also trying to track the small devices by helicopter.

Such activity could result in a five-year jail sentence.

Airlines were trying to help passengers find alternate ways to their destinations, or simply locate a hotel room where they could rest and wait for the suspension to lift. The local rail operator was offering to reroute or cancel tickets at no cost.

CEO Stewart Wingate said, "It cannot be right that drones can close a vital part of our national infrastructure in this way."</s>How were drones able to close Gatwick Airport?

Drones have forced Britain's second-busiest airport to shut its runway, sparking chaos and delaying thousands of Christmas travellers.

Planes were unable to depart after the drones were spotted, while a number of flights scheduled to land were diverted to other airports, Gatwick Airport said in a statement.

But how are these small aircraft able to cause so much trouble? Here's what we know about what's going on.

Is this really such a big deal?

If you're a passenger trying to get away for the holiday, it's a huge deal. But it's not just limited to those trying to catch a flight.

Gatwick Airport's chief operating officer said this was a "very significant national issue".

After 24 hours, the drones are still disrupting services. Gatwick Airport has cancelled flights for the rest of today and is not expected to open for another several hours.

Even when it does re-open, the backlog and disruptions are expected to last for days.

This isn't a case of authorities being overzealous either.

Jai Galliott is an expert in defence and military technology at the University of New South Wales and said even the smaller drones available to the public can cause an explosion if they're sucked into a plane engine.

And the drone in this case isn't small.

"So it's pretty clear that this is a fairly large drone, not the classic plastic garden drone that you will see, this is a commercial-sized drone that is clearly being operated deliberately in a way that every time Gatwick tries to reopen the runway the drones reappear," the UK's Transport Secretary said.

"So this is quite clearly a deliberate act."

Why has it been so hard to locate the drones?

Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw said it appears the drones being used are "newer-generation", which are bigger and have more range.

Superintendent Burtenshaw said each time police believed they were getting close to the drone operator, "the drone disappears".

Basically, it's made it harder for police to locate the person controlling the device, because they're likely a lot further away from the airport than you think.

Dr Galliott said he could walk into a large electronics retailer in Australia today and buy a drone with a range of up to 5 kilometres for less than $2,000.

"And if you're a tech-savvy person, you can figure out how to extend the range of that kind of equipment," he said.

It's possible to set up a surveillance perimeter of high-quality cameras to track the drone, according to Dr Galliott, but drones can fly higher than cameras can see.

So why don't they have drone-blocking technology?

It exists, but it's a long way from perfect.

"There are things called drone guns, which are ultrasonic-type devices that utilise certain segments of the electromagnetic spectrum to target the kind of frequencies on which these drones operate," he said.

"It's a more targeted device that you would aim at a particular drone."

Remember though, police are having trouble finding the drone, so this tech isn't super helpful until they do.

Dr Galliott said there are devices that disrupt a broad range of frequencies, but they have their issues too.

"The problem is a lot of the drones these days are becoming more automated and as such they don't necessarily rely on communication with an operator," he said.



"Certain functions have been programmed in and they carry it out autonomously."

It's also relatively new technology.

"It's not that they cause a huge issue, but that they haven't been tested in those kind of environments," Dr Galliott said.

Think of how long it took for it to be OK to use your mobile phone on a plane. Dr Galliott said there are still big hurdles to clear before the broad jamming technology is given the all-clear for use.

Why can't they just shoot down the drones?

About 20 police units from two forces tried to zero in on the drone operator after the first sighting over Gatwick on Wednesday evening.

Police initially told airport officials it was too risky to try to shoot down the two drones, since stray bullets might kill someone.

But given the scale of the disruption, they're now reconsidering, according to the BBC.

"The assessment earlier on today was that we wouldn't be using firearms," Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said.

"This is continually reviewed so you will know and have seen that we have firearm officers deployed."

So there just isn't a foolproof solution?

"The problem is there is no bulletproof way to guard against drone attacks of this nature.

"Airports have been aware of this risk for quite some time. Airports pay significant sums of money to security consultants who are also aware of these risks.
Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, England, is shut down intermittently since Wednesday night, after drones are seen flying over the airfield. Police believe it is "a deliberate act to disrupt the airport". Hundreds of thousands of passengers are affected.