Airport was the scene of an “ongoing” emergency on Sunday, Sussex Police have confirmed, with witnesses reporting armed officers surrounding a plane. Sussex Police have confirmed, with witnesses reporting armed officers surrounding a plane. The force confirmed the emergency was not drone-related. They said in a statement: “Sussex Police are currently dealing with an ongoing incident at Gatwick Airport. We will release more information in due course but it is not related to a drone incident.”
The incident was related to a hoax bomb threat on an inbound flight from Istanbul.
It comes as passengers reported armed police at the scene.
A Twitter user, Dr Eka Iakobishvili, claimed “special forces and machine guns” were surrounding her plane.
She said: “Hi there, we are stuck in the aircraft with special forces and machine guns surrounding the plane. Can you tell what is happening? Thanks.”
In a further update, she claimed the incident was related to a “very serious security threat”.
She said: “Very serious security threat. Took almost five hours to screen people and bags… no threat was found. Police handled it well.”
Other passengers reported being “stuck” on the runway earlier on Sunday.
