A lone wolf eco-warrior or a group of climate change activists could be behind the most damaging drone assault on a UK airport in history.
The sabotage which grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands stranded is believed to have been 'targeted' and the sophistication of the equipment involved suggests it was well-planned and financed.
Gatwick is currently at the centre of a bitter row over plans to use its emergency runway to bring more than 100,000 additional flights a year.
Climate action movement Extinction Rebellion have stage a series of stunts in recent months, including this 'die-in' at a Cambridge shopping centre
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the drones, suggesting it is more likely to be a 'lone wolf' activist. Pictured: Extinction Rebellion in London
Police investigating the attack do not think it is terror related and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today said it is unlikely to have been the actions of a foreign state.
That suggests three possibilities are among potential suspects; an organised campaign group, a lone eco-extremist or an anarchic hobbyist looking to cause carnage.
The most high-profile 'direct action' groups in the UK include Extinction Rebellion, who shut down central London in anti-traffic protests last month, and Plane Stupid, whose members chained themselves to Heathrow's runway in 2015.
Meanwhile 15 activists are facing jail after storming into Stansted Airport and grounding a Home Office deportation plane heading to Africa in March 2017.
The group caused chaos using bolt cutters on the perimeter fence and chained themselves to a 767 chartered to transport detainees from UK detention centres back to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. They will be sentenced on February 4.
But nobody has yet claimed responsibility, raising suspicions that it a saboteur acting alone.
Police are still hunting the person or gang flying the unmanned aircraft (pictured) - but do not believe the sabotage is terror-related with eco-warriors the prime suspects
Passengers are forced to sleep in departure lounges at Gatwick Airport today after the drone was spotted more than 50 times over the runway in West Sussex
Sussex Police, whose officers patrol the airport, today revealed that Scotland Yard and officers from neighbouring Surrey Police have joined the manhunt.
Steve Coulson, managing director of drone detection firm Coptrz, said it appeared to be a 'targeted attack' that could have originated abroad.
He told the Times: 'The operator may not even be in the country. You can have a secure internet link from China or Russia and control it remotely, just like we control drones remotely from Arizona and fly them over Afghanistan.
'I'm surprised how brazen this is. I thought we might get some low-level stuff this year but somebody or some group are pushing the envelope.'
Some 350,000 people face having their Christmas plans ruined as disruption continued at Gatwick today.
Drone expert Carys Kaiser told MailOnline: 'It's definitely not a hobbyist who's thinking I'll get some extra footage from a YouTube channel.
'It is definitely something that is more organised in some capacity because obviously the drones that I fly and the drones that most people fly in the UK have this geofencing and we can't get them to take off that close to an airport.
'So this is somebody that has possibly hacked their software or possibly modified their drone in some way.'
Ms Kaiser added: '[The manufacturers] have all developed this software to ensure that people can't just take a drone near an airport and take off.
'You get lock zones, so you'll get a yellow zone that could be a stately home or a football ground - it will say to you do you have permission, and you have to put in details and the manufacturer knows who it is, and if there was an incident they could trace it.
'When you get an airport that's a red zone, and you can't unlock it unless you get written permission from an airport. You have to submit documentation, wait for five days and then you get an unlock code so you can fly.
'As with anything that's malicious, people will hack the software, modify the drones to get around all of that. If you've got malicious intent, you've got a malicious mind, you don't abide by the rules.'
Campaigners stage a protest against expansion at London Heathrow Airport in 2016
A former Army captain told The Sun that the attacker had showed 'some serious capability' and could be a 'genius' with a PhD.
Richard Gill said: 'Perhaps we are dealing with a person who just wants to do it to show how clever they are.
'He or she is just causing hell because they can and they want to test their limits. It's the thrill of getting away with it.'
No person or group has yet claimed responsibility for the sabotage, but officials are said to be working on the theory the saboteur could be an 'eco-warrior'.
A Whitehall source told the Daily Telegraph that an eco-protest was a 'definite line of inquiry'.
Environmental activist groups have previously targeted airports, in particular to protest the proposed expansion of Heathrow.
When asked why someone would want to disrupt the airport, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'There's no sense of motive - there's no suggestion that this is a terrorist act.
'The counter-terrorist police have been very clear that they've seen no evidence that this is intended to be a terrorist act. It's clearly someone who wants to disrupt Gatwick Airport and there's an intense police operation.
'We've got two police forces in Surrey and Sussex working together to try and catch the perpetrator, supported by the Met, supported by the counter-terrorism police and no evidence of a terrorist link at the moment.'
Sussex Police also said that 'our assessment, based upon the information that we have available to us, is that this incident is not terrorism-related'.
The runway has been closed almost constantly since two drones were spotted being flown inside Gatwick's perimeter at 9pm on Wednesday.
It was reopened at 3am on Thursday but was closed 45 minutes later after the drones re-emerged.
Chris Woodroofe said 120,000 passengers' flights had been disrupted and the drone that has plagued the airport since Wednesday evening is still in the air.
Night-flight restrictions will be lifted at other airports - probably those which serve London - so that 'more planes can get in to and out of the country', Mr Grayling said.
'Apologies for the residents affected, but it's right and proper that we try and sort people's Christmases out,' he said.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/21/hunt-to-find-who-is-behind-the-drone-chaos/
Main photo article A lone wolf eco-warrior or a group of climate change activists could be behind the most damaging drone assault on a UK airport in history.
The sabotage which grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands stranded is believed to have been ‘targeted’ and the sophistication of the...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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