Drone delays flight's take-off at Heathrow

Delays: the drone was spotted at Heathrow

AFP/Getty Images

3 January 2016

A flight was held up at Britain's busiest airport because a drone was seen flying over a runway.

The plane was held up while Heathrow's departure runway was closed for seven minutes.

Aimee Fuller, who is a member of the British Olympic snowboarding team, tweeted: "Onboard! At Heathrow when the flight gets delayed due to a 'likely Christmas present' a drone flying over the runway!"

A Heathrow spokeswoman told the Sunday Telegraph: "The departure runway was closed for seven minutes. It didn't cause significant disruption."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Onboard! At <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Heathrow?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3147161-https://twitter.com/hashtag/Heathrow?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#Heathrow</a> when the flight gets delayed due to a "likely Christmas present" a drone flying over the runway! <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/British_Airways" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3147161-https://twitter.com/British_Airways" data-vars-event-id="c23">@British_Airways</a> — Aimee Fuller (@aimee_fuller) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/aimee_fuller/status/682907932502159360" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3147161-https://twitter.com/aimee_fuller/status/682907932502159360" data-vars-event-id="c23">January 1, 2016</a>

Drones, which are flown from the ground using remote controls, were a must have gift this Christmas.

The latest airport-related incident came weeks after owners were warned over their use near airports after two near-misses in Hampshire.

The county's police force said 46 incidents involving drones were recorded last year.

They included reports of a drone coming within a wing’s length of two separate aircraft landing at Southampton International Airport.

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