Drone Sighting Closes London Heathrow Airport

Here we go again. All flights were grounded at London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday night after a drone was sighted in the vicinity. It was an eerily similar repeat of an incident three weeks ago at nearby Gatwick Airport.

The departures runway at Heathrow was closed and police helicopters were deployed after numerous sightings were reported, including by police officers, at about 5 p.m. local time on January 8, according to media reports.

The runway reopened and flights resumed about an hour and a half later, but the closure wreaked havoc on the busy London airport as flights were rerouted and passengers were delayed in the terminal.

The closure occurred just a few weeks after Gatwick Airport 30 miles south of London was shut down for approximately 36 hours due to drone activity over the airport, leading to 1,000 canceled flights that affected more than 1,400 passengers.

London officials say they are now considering deploying military-grade drone detection and counter-measure technology to combat the incursions.