Two Protesters Arrested over Heathrow Drone Threat

Activists attempted to launch the first drone at about 3am within the airport’s three-mile (5km) exclusion zone but they said the authorities used jamming technology to prevent it taking off.

Heathrow said there had been no disruption to flights, adding that staff were working with the police and airport authorities to ensure passenger safety, the Guardian reported.

“We have in place dynamic risk-assessment programmes which are carried out by airfield and security experts and at no time will safety be compromised,” a spokesperson said. “Alongside drone detection capabilities, we will mitigate the impact of this illegal action and operate in a way that is safe at all times.”

On Thursday, police made seven pre-emptive arrests of activists from the Heathrow Pause group including Roger Hallam, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion. Officers confirmed two more people had been arrested near the airport on Friday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

Protesters had planned to fly drones outside any flight paths at no higher than about 1.8 meters (6ft). They had notified the airport and the authorities of their plans weeks ago and said that once a drone flight was over its pilot would phone the police and wait to be arrested.

They had believed this would force the authorities to shut down Heathrow’s operations. However, a spokesperson for the airport said this assumption was wrong because an ongoing risk assessment would work out what the best action was on a case-by-case basis.

The police have said anyone taking part would face the full force of the law.

The Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, Laurence Taylor, said: “Our policing plan is aimed at preventing criminal activity which poses a significant safety and security risk to the airport, and the thousands of passengers that will be using it. We have warned previously that arrests would be made if this activity continued.

 “In these circumstances, we believe these arrests to be a proportionate response to preventing criminal activity that could significantly impact on a major piece of national infrastructure.”

Those involved in the action say they want to deformalize “one of the world’s most environmentally destructive activities”. They point out that most flights are taken by a small minority of wealthy people, with air travel expected to double in 20 years with disastrous environmental consequences.

They are also protesting against Heathrow’s planned expansion, which they say is incompatible with the addressing the unfolding climate crisis.

Before he was arrested, Hallam told the Guardian the proposed third runway expansion would “provide another few years of business as usual – until everything collapses. It happens to be the largest carbon intensive project in Europe … But rich westerners are worth it, right?

 “This, then, is what the climate emergency means. An emergency. A question of life or death. A question of extinction – everyone gone forever. The only appropriate response now is rebellion. This means demanding an immediate cancellation of the third runway at Heathrow. Stop this planned monstrosity and we will stop flying drones.

He added: “We are in a ‘time of consequences’, as Churchill called it in response to the Nazi threat in 1936. The consequence of not rebelling is indescribable suffering and death for billions of people. The consequence of rebellion is a chance to avoid the worst. Rebellion means mass economic disruption and deep personal sacrifice. I am a rebel.”