March 28, 2026 03:47 pm (IST)

Make this your homepage

Foreign

‘Feeling blessed’: PM Modi attends Surya Tilak ceremony at Ayodhya Ram Temple virtually | ‘No lockdown’: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri dismisses rumours, assures preparedness amid West Asia tensions | Middle East crisis: Govt cuts excise duty by Rs 10 on petrol and diesel, giving big relief amid global oil shock | ‘Big boost for NCR connectivity’: PM Modi to inaugurate Noida International Airport Phase 1 tomorrow | HDFC chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned over power struggle with CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan: Report | PM Modi to chair meeting with CMs tomorrow amid West Asia conflict | ‘I said, no thanks’: Trump claims Iran offered him Supreme Leader role | Iran allows India, four other ‘friendly nations’ access to Strait of Hormuz amid West Asia conflict | 13 killed as bus, lorry collide and catch fire in Andhra Pradesh | Mamata unveils TMC candidate list for Bengal polls; to face Suvendu in Bhabanipur

UK: Heathrow Airport stops departures for drone sighting

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | Jan 09, 2019, at 01:15 am

London, Jan 8 (IBNS): The Heathrow Airport in London on Tuesday temporarily stopped departure of flights after a drone was sighted.

The airport said it had stopped departures "to prevent any threat to operational safety".

The airport tweeted, "We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow and are working closely with the Met Police to prevent any threat to operational safety. As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause."

We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow and are working closely with the Met Police to prevent any threat to operational safety. As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause.
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) January 8, 2019

After a brief halt, the flight operations have also been resumed.

The airport further tweeted, "We continue to work with the Met Police on reports of drones at Heathrow. We are working with Air Traffic Control and the Met Police, and have resumed departures out of Heathrow after a short suspension. We will continue to monitor this and apologise to anyone that were affected."

We continue to work with the Met Police on reports of drones at Heathrow. We are working with Air Traffic Control and the Met Police, and have resumed departures out of Heathrow after a short suspension. We will continue to monitor this and apologise to anyone that were affected.
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) January 8, 2019

Heathrow Airport along with the Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident.

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said he is in constant touch with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Khan tweeted, "Heathrow Airport has stopped departures following a reported drone sighting. I am in touch with @metpoliceuk Commissioner and the police are investigating...."

Heathrow Airport has stopped departures following a reported drone sighting. I am in touch with @metpoliceuk Commissioner and the police are investigating. Follow @heathrowairport for further updates and advice.
— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) January 8, 2019

Image: twitter.com/HeathrowAirport

#London #UK #HeathrowAirport #Drone #MetropolitanPolice

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.