LONDON—British police have released without charge two people arrested in an inquiry into the illegal use of drones at London’s Gatwick Airport that crippled operations for three days last week.
“Both people have fully co-operated with our inquiries, and I am satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at Gatwick,” Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said Dec. 23.
The two were held after information was passed to the police by a member of the public, Tingley told Sky News. He said he was confident the arrests were justified.
He said authorities were continuing to actively follow lines of investigation to catch those responsible for the most disruptive incursions from unmanned aerial vehicles seen at any major airport.
No one has claimed responsibility for the disruption.
“We have kept an open mind throughout and that is still the case with regard to the motivation behind these incidents,” he said.
The drones were spotted at Britain’s second-largest airport on the evening of Dec. 19, forcing the closing of its runway in the runup to Christmas. Every time the airport sought to reopen the runway on Dec. 20, the drones returned.
Authorities finally regained control over the airfield after the army deployed unidentified military technology to guard the area, reassuring the airport that it was safe to fly.
Airlines operating at Gatwick, which is located south of London, include easyJet, British Airways, and Norwegian.
The airport said on Dec. 23 that it’s offering a reward of 50,000 pounds ($63,275) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
The number of near-misses between private drones and aircraft in the UK more than tripled between 2015 and 2017, with 92 incidents recorded last year, according to the UK Airprox Board.
