British authorities have offered a £50,000 reward after a couple detained over chaos caused by drone flights over the country’s second largest airport were released without charge.
Police said the couple, named by media as Paul and Elaine Gait, were no longer suspects but not before widespread coverage of their arrests. “Are these the morons who ruined Christmas?” said one front-page story before they were released.
About 1,000 flights were cancelled or diverted at the airport from late Wednesday, affecting the travel plans of some 140,000 people.
Police said they had recovered a damaged drone close to the edge of the airport and were examining it for clues.
The identity and motives of those behind the repeated incursions remained unclear on Sunday, despite the reward offer from the company that runs Gatwick.
Suspicion has fallen on residents concerned about plans to expand the airport, environmental activists or a former Gatwick worker with a grudge.
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Read more:
How do you stop a drone? Gatwick shutdown poses questions over aerial threat
Gatwick airport: Two arrested after drone disruption
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Mr Gait, a model-aircraft enthusiast, lives close to the airport but colleagues said he had been at work during the worst of the disruption on Thursday.
Police searched the pair's house as they were held on suspicion of “disrupting services of a civil aviation aerodrome to endanger or likely to endanger safety of operations or persons”.
In a statement on Sunday, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley, of Sussex police, said the pair, a man aged 47 and a woman, 54, had co-operated with the inquiry. Police do not give names of suspects. "I am satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at Gatwick," he said.
“Our inquiry continues at a pace to locate those responsible for the drone incursions, and we continue to actively follow lines of investigation.
“We ask for the public's continued support by reporting anything suspicious, contacting us with any information in relation to the drone incidents at Gatwick.”
The opposition Labour Party has called for an independent inquiry after accusing the government of failing to act on warnings about the danger to flights from drones. In July 2017, a drone led to the closure of a runway at Gatwick for 14 minutes, causing five flights to be diverted.
The UK changed the law this year to make it illegal to fly drones within 1,000 metres of an airport and with height restrictions further out, but airport officials admitted lessons had been learnt from the chaos this week.
"The government was repeatedly warned about the risks posed by drones to aviation but failed to act," said Andy McDonald, the transport spokesman for Labour.
He suggested that the government had taken its eye off the ball while dealing with Brexit.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
