Drone sightings which shut down Gatwick airport for 36 hours may have been reports of Sussex Police’s aircraft, the force’s Chief Constable has admitted.
Police received 115 reports of sightings in the area, including 92 which have been confirmed as coming from credible people, Sussex Police’s Chief Constable Giles York said.
But the force launched its own drone to search for what officers believed at the time to be malicious aircraft deliberately being flown above the airfield to intentionally force the airport into lockdown.
Sussex Police’s most senior officer told the BBC police have searched 26 potential launch sites for drones near the airport but do not believe they have found the drone thought to have been flown near runways on December 19 and 20.
I don’t think we have found the drone responsible for this at this time, said the Chief Constable.
I think the fact that we have found two drones so far as a result of this does show the extent of the search that has been carried out. I am led to believe that we are able to rules those drones out of this investigation at this time.
Last week, the force conceded there may have never been a drone in the air, insisting officers were working with human beings.
Mr York told Today: Of course, we will have launched our own Sussex Police drones at the time with a view to investigate, with a view to engage, with a view to survey the area looking for the drone, so there could be some level of confusion there.
Two drones found by police near Gatwick Airport have now been ruled out of involvement in the incident which disrupted hundreds of flights before Christmas.