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| Drone at Gatwick Airport 'closes runway and causes flights to be diverted' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Gatwick airport's runway was closed and flights diverted after a drone was spotted flying "in the vicinity of the airfield", officials said. | |
| At least two flights were diverted, with passengers claiming on social media their British Airways flight was heading to Bournemouth airport instead. | |
| Police said they were investigating the incident, while other flights were told to circle around the airport as a precaution. | |
| A spokesman for the airport said the runway was closed for two short periods of nine minutes and five minutes and that one plane had been sent to Stansted airport, reported the BBC. | |
| Craig Jenkins was on an EasyJet flight to Gatwick from Naples when his journey was disrupted. | |
| "We were crossing over the Channel and it started circling," Mr Jenkins told the broadcaster | |
| "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 added that those onboard were being given a choice between waiting for an hour and flying back to Gatwick or getting off. | |
| "If one person gets off here, all the bags need to get off. There are lots of babies on this flight. I feel for the parents," he added. |