Authorities launch probe after drone sightings halted flights at Heathrow

Scotland Yard said a "full criminal investigation" had been launched and the military has been called after sightings of a drone temporarily halted flights at Heathrow airport in London.

Departures from the west London airport were suspended for about an hour.

It comes three weeks after thousands of passengers were caught up in disruption at Gatwick Airport following reports of drone sightings.

Heathrow airport, which is also working with the Met Police, said it was monitoring the situation and apologized to passengers affected by the disruption.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, the airport said: "business was back to normal".

Following the latest incident, the Met Police said it was deploying significant resources amid fears the sighting could cause further chaos for travelers.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We are deploying specialist equipment to Heathrow Airport at the request of the Metropolitan Police."

The Met’s commander Stuart Cundy said police officers were among those who saw the drone.

"We are carrying out extensive searches around the Heathrow area to identify any people who may be responsible for the operation of the drone," he said.

"I want to be clear that the illegal operation of drones at an airfield is extremely dangerous.

"Under the Aviation Security Act it is an offense to endanger the safety of an aircraft, anyone found guilty of this offense could face a life sentence.”

Cundy also confirmed military assistance had been brought in but would not discuss tactics in detail.

He said the drone sighting was reported just after 17:00 GMT, with departing flights stopped as a precaution while initial inquiries were made.

More than 140,000 passengers at Gatwick were affected during 36 hours of chaos between 19 and 21 December.

About 1,000 flights were canceled there over three days due to the drone sightings.