Drone owners arrested for disruption in UK Gatwick airport

Two people were arrested for using a drone, disrupting Gatwick's airport normal operations for several days.

Sussex police found and arrested a 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman that were flying the drone for three consecutive days onto the airfield, causing severe safety issues. They were taken into custody for "criminal use of drones" and they face up to five years in prison for endangering airplanes.

Recently-introduced laws in the U.K. demand that drones may not fly within a kilometer range or at a height of more than 120 meters of an airport.

According to recent updates, the incident is not "terror related." It is not clear whether the suspects acted alone or as a part of a larger team, however, no drone flights have been detected since the arrest. Sussex police Superintendent, James Collis, ensured that the police prioritizes the safety of people encouraging anyone who can provide information about the drone incidents to contact the department. "Every line of enquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers," he stated.

The airport remained closed for more than a day. More than 140,000 passengers were devastated as 1000 flights were canceled or diverted. Gatwick plans to run a full schedule of flights during Saturday and Sunday but some cancellations or delays are expected.

Sources: Cnn.com, Theweathernetwork.com, Cnet.com