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		</div><p>Culprits behind the drone chaos at Gatwick had an insight into how the airport was reacting to the incident, its head of operations has said.</p>
<p>The rogue operators could either see what was taking place on the runway or they were eavesdropping on radio or internet communications, said Chris Woodroofe, the airport’s chief operating officer.</p>
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<p>A number of drone sightings forced Britain’s second-busiest airport to shut down for 33 hours, disrupting 140,000 passengers’ journeys.</p>
<p>The chaos continued despite a huge police operation and the Army was eventually called to bring the incident under control.</p>
<p><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6768FD9F-E899-4483-B40C-5A97FDB4A032.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-130176" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6768FD9F-E899-4483-B40C-5A97FDB4A032.jpeg" alt="" width="1082" height="491" /></a></p>
<p>Sussex Police said the possibility that the perpetrators could have included an airport insider is a “credible line” of inquiry.</p>
<p>Speaking to the BBC’s Panorama Programme, Mr Woodroofe said the disruption wreaked by the drones was “terrible”.</p>
<p>“It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport”, he said.</p>
<p>Mr Woodroofe was the “gold commander” in charge of the airport’s response to the incident on December 19 and 21, which hit 1,000 flights.</p>
<p>He said there was “absolutely nothing” that he would have done differently as the safety of passengers was of paramount concern.</p>
<figure id="attachment_130180" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130180" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/D44C477D-201D-4812-A4B5-1977ED81B68A.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-130180" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/D44C477D-201D-4812-A4B5-1977ED81B68A.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-130180" class="wp-caption-text">Passengers at Gatwick airport waiting for their flights following the delays and cancellations brought on by drone sightings</figcaption></figure>
<p>“It was terrible that 140,000 people’s journeys were disrupted, but everyone was safe.” Mr Woodroofe said.</p>
<p>Military anti-drone equipment, which can detect the flying machines and disable them by jamming radio signals, remained at the airport until March.</p>
<p>Both Gatwick and Heathrow are investing millions in their own systems to prevent future flight disruption.</p>
<p>“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,” Mr Woodroofe said.</p>
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<p>“What this incident has demonstrated is that a drone operator with malicious intent can cause serious disruption to airport operations. And it’s clear that disruption could be carried over into other industries and other environments.”</p>
<p> ;</p>
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