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| Drone causes disruption at Gatwick airport | Drone causes disruption at Gatwick airport |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A drone flying close to Gatwick airport has led to the closure of the runway and forced at least least two flights to be diverted. | |
| A spokesman for the airport said the runway was closed for two short periods of nine minutes and five minutes on Sunday evening. | |
| Gatwick said one plane had been sent to Stansted, whilst British Airways said another had gone to Bournemouth. | |
| Sussex Police are investigating the incident. | |
| Other flights had to circle above the airport as a precaution. | |
| A statement from the airport said: "Due to reports of a drone observation in the vicinity of the airfield, runway operations at Gatwick were suspended between 18:10 BST and 1819, and again from 1836 to 1841, resulting in a small number of go-arounds and diverts. | |
| "Operations have resumed and the police continue to investigate." | |
| 'Lots of babies' | |
| Passengers have told the BBC they were diverted mid-flight. | |
| Craig Jenkins was flying back with EasyJet from Naples in Italy when his flight was diverted. | |
| "We were crossing over the Channel and it started circling," he said. "It did four or five circles, heading further east, before the captain said we were landing at Stansted. | |
| "First, they said Gatwick was closed because of an incident. Then, shortly after, they said it was a drone." | |
| Mr Jenkins, who is from Greenwich, London, said passengers were being given the choice of getting off or waiting an hour and flying back to Gatwick. | |
| "If one person gets off here, all the bags need to get off," he added. "There are lots of babies on this flight. I feel for the parents." | |
| Aborted landing | |
| Niamh Slatter, from Sussex, was flying home from Valencia, Spain, when her BA flight was diverted to Bournemouth. | |
| "We were due to land 15 minutes early, but ended up circling over the south coast for a while," she said. "The crew were brilliant and explained that we were being held due to a drone in the airspace at Gatwick but that they would tell us when they had more information. | |
| "Our attempted landing at Gatwick was aborted quite late as the drone had been spotted again, so we were told that the flight was being diverted to Bournemouth airport. | |
| "The crew aboard the plane have been brilliant, as have the staff at Bournemouth, on standby ready for us and other planes that would be landing." |