Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Police 'unequivocally' affirm London airport drone sightings
LBN thread: British police release suspects, say there might never have been a drone at Gatwick Airport
______________________________________________________________________
Source: Associated Press
Police ‘unequivocally’ affirm London airport drone sightings
By GREGORY KATZ
December 24, 2018
LONDON (AP) — Chagrined county police in England insisted Monday that drone sightings over London’s Gatwick Airport were authentic, while a local man who was arrested and cleared as a suspect in the aerial mystery that brought days of travel havoc said he felt “completely violated.”
The Sussex Police department deemed the affirmation necessary after a senior detective noted it was possible drones hadn’t flown over the airport last week, sowing confusion over the precautionary shutdowns that affected tens of thousands of passengers.
“We can unequivocally state that there have been numerous illegal drone sightings at the airport over three days from 19 to 21 December,” Deputy Chief Constable Jo Shiner said.
The confirmation came after Chief Detective Jason Tingley told the BBC that investigators were making progress, but also had to consider the “possibility” that people who reported seeing drones around Gatwick were mistaken. He was referring to the widely accepted limitations of eyewitness accounts.
Nonetheless, the suggestion that the grounding and diversion of flights at Britain’s second-busiest airport might have been based on inaccurate information generated fresh outrage. While seeking to defuse it, the Sussex department’s Shiner said a conviction could bring whoever operated the drones a life prison sentence.
-snip-
By GREGORY KATZ
December 24, 2018
LONDON (AP) — Chagrined county police in England insisted Monday that drone sightings over London’s Gatwick Airport were authentic, while a local man who was arrested and cleared as a suspect in the aerial mystery that brought days of travel havoc said he felt “completely violated.”
The Sussex Police department deemed the affirmation necessary after a senior detective noted it was possible drones hadn’t flown over the airport last week, sowing confusion over the precautionary shutdowns that affected tens of thousands of passengers.
“We can unequivocally state that there have been numerous illegal drone sightings at the airport over three days from 19 to 21 December,” Deputy Chief Constable Jo Shiner said.
The confirmation came after Chief Detective Jason Tingley told the BBC that investigators were making progress, but also had to consider the “possibility” that people who reported seeing drones around Gatwick were mistaken. He was referring to the widely accepted limitations of eyewitness accounts.
Nonetheless, the suggestion that the grounding and diversion of flights at Britain’s second-busiest airport might have been based on inaccurate information generated fresh outrage. While seeking to defuse it, the Sussex department’s Shiner said a conviction could bring whoever operated the drones a life prison sentence.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/b4d0c08a5ca5462e8a68681719b9ef5a