A leading aerial photography company based in Newtown has condemned the use of a drone which has caused a major UK airport to remain closed for the past 18 hours.
Flights were suspended at Gatwick Airport late last night after an unmanned radio-operated drone was spotted flying illegally over the airfield, causing a potential hazard to passenger aircraft.
The military have been called in to assist with more than 20 police teams hunting for the operator of the drone, but efforts to locate the person responsible have so far been unsuccessful.
1/2 Thursday 11.45: All flights remain suspended from Gatwick today, due to ongoing drone activity around the airfield. There is significant disruption, as a result of what appears to be a deliberate attempt to disrupt flights.
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) December 20, 2018
Stu Trigg, owner of Newtown aerial photography company Dragon UAV says the culprit could even be several miles away from the airport.
"The most popular drones can be flown from up to 7km away but it should always be flown within the line of sight of the operator - that's one of the laws surrounding the use of drones for both amateurs and professionals alike.
"It's illegal and basic common sense that you don't fly within an airport so some people within the industry are suggesting it might be some form of activism.
"There are anti-drone measures in operation in the UK and I'm not sure why some of them haven't been used in this case. There's a jail in Guernsey which uses a system which can detect a drone and jam it's signal, and there are other measures such as nets and even birds of prey which have been used successfully in the past."
We expect disruption to continue into tomorrow and so advise all customers flying to and from London Gatwick tomorrow to check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker https://t.co/wJaEeGPHSw or via the app.
— easyJet (@easyJet) December 20, 2018
On July 30, the UK drone rules changed to make it against the law to fly above 400ft (120m) and to make it against the law to fly your drone within 1km of an airport or airfield boundary.
Mr Trigg says the actions of the individual or group responsible will be condemned across the professional industry in the wake of the incident which has caused flights to be diverted to Amsterdam and Paris due to the closure of Gatwick's airspace.
"A lot of members of the public don't realise how much training and regulation there is around drone use already.
"Thousands of drones will be bought as Christmas presents and people shouldn't be put off, they are an amazing and fun technology.
"But if you're getting a drone for Christmas it's really important that you read and follow the Drone Code before you fly, it's very simple and important that we share this information to continue with the safe use of drones for hobbyists and amateurs," he added.
A full copy of the DroneSafe code can be found online at http://dronesafe.uk/drone-code
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