December Gatwick Drone Incident Likely Organised 'From Inside' - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The drone attack that caused a major disruption to air traffic at London's Gatwick Airport in late December might have been organised by a member of the airport's current or former staff, The Times newspaper reported on Thursday, citing governmental sources.

“[The drone pilot] knew the blind spots for it, where it could not be ‘hit’. It was clearly someone with really good knowledge of Gatwick, someone who had worked there. Hypothetically it could have been a disgruntled employee,” the source said, as quoted by The Times newspaper.

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According to the media, the drone was flying in blind spot areas that were known only to the airport's employees, and the hypothesis was supported by another source, who said that the incident might have been staged by a "disgruntled employee."

Flights at London Gatwick were suspended between late 19 December and early 21 December due to a drone flying over the airfield.

Flights were temporarily shut down again on the afternoon of 21 December after the drone was spotted again. The incident led to the cancellation of 1,000 flights and affected about 140,000 passengers. The UK Sussex Police detained two people in connection with the incident but released them shortly thereafter after being unable to prove their involvement in the incidents.