Operator Likely Highly Educated 'Lone Wolf' ... Not A Hobbyist Or Terrorist

The person who has caused air travel chaos in the U.K. by flying a drone near Gatwick Airport, causing the airport to be closed for much of Thursday, is likely not a hobbyist or a terrorist, authorities said.

The airport reopened Friday, though the person responsible for the disruption that scrambled travel plans for hundreds of thousands of people has not been located. In a Tweet issued at 9:30 a.m. local time, airport officials said "Gatwick's runway is now available and aircraft are arriving and departing. There are knock-on delays and cancellations to flights and we strongly recommend that you check the status of your flight with your airline before setting out for the airport today."

The U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail reports that authorities believe that the person responsible for the disruption could be a highly-educated "eco-warrior" or hacker who was able to bypass geofencing and other security protocols in the drone's software. Or, as former Army captain Richard Gill told the U.K. newspaper The Sun ... "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."

The person is not likely to be a terrorist, according to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. "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," he said.

In a statement, Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, London Gatwick apologized to all the passengers who have had their holiday travel plans disrupted by the incident, and said the events "highlight a wider strategic challenge for aviation in this country which we need to address together with speed - the aviation industry, Government and all the other relevant authorities. It cannot be right that drones can close a vital part of our national infrastructure in this way. This is obviously a relatively new technology and we need to think through together the right solutions to make sure it cannot happen again."

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report, www.gatwickairport.com