Airside operations
In December 2018, Gatwick Airport experienced two days of disruption over reported drone sightings in its airspace. While some doubts remain over the validity of these reports, airports have become increasingly aware of the threat drones present to disrupt their operations. Nicholas Kenny speaks to a range of industry experts to hear how anti-drone technology is being implemented to protect airspaces.
Clear the air A
n airport security officer noted something odd on his way home and reported a possible security risk to the Gatwick Airport control centre. In response, on 19 December 2018, all air traffic ground to a halt at Gatwick and would remain that way for almost two days while a search party investigated. Its quarry was not a bomb threat, but something much more mundane – the security officer had sighted two drones, one hovering above a vehicle inside the airport, the other flying around the perimeter fence. Initially, 20 police and airport security vehicles drove around the airport, leading to another half dozen unconfirmed drone sightings, and gradually more and more resources were drawn in. On the second day, a police helicopter and several police drones scanned the air, looking for the intruder, to no avail, and by that night the military had arrived with an anti-drone system designed for battlefield use. After the military system failed to pick up anything unusual, and suitable procedures and safety assurances had been put in place, Gatwick was given the go-ahead to reopen on the morning of 21 December, after having
been closed for over 33 hours. Industry experts at the time estimated that airlines had lost around £50m during the disruption, with 1,000 flights cancelled and 140,000 passengers left on the ground. While this wasn’t the first case of an airport being forced to ground its flights after an unwanted incursion by a drone, real or imagined – Gatwick had experienced previous incidents with drones in July 2017 – the disruption caused has rarely been so severe. The coverage of the Gatwick incident only increased the longer it went on, and it became the public’s main reference point when thinking about the relationship of drones and airports. Of course, while drones can present a threat when they enter prohibited airspaces, most of those instances aren’t borne out through any desire to cause trouble. That’s the greatest issue facing airspace regulators and airports in this area – the danger isn’t from bad actors, but from general ignorance and the increasing availability of privately owned drones. As of January 2021, there were 1,782,479 drones registered in the US alone – 1,256,336 for recreational
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www.futureairport.com
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