UK: Drone reports temporarily halt flights from London's Heathrow

Flights from London’s Heathrow airport were halted for about an hour on Tuesday after reports of a drone sighting near Europe’s busiest air hub, raising fears that the chaos that affected rival Gatwick last month could be repeated on an even larger scale. “We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow,” the airport said. “As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause.” London’s Metropolitan Police said they had received reports of a drone near the airport at about 1705 GMT on Tuesday, which they were investigating with airport authorities. The airport confirmed about an hour later that take-offs had resumed. Flight tracker websites showed flights departing from 1811 GMT. A Reuters witness in a plane on the runway at Heathrow said multiple aircraft were waiting for permission to take off before being later told that things were starting to move. Heathrow said it was working closely with authorities including the police and looking at relevant technology to combat the threat of drones.<br/>