The Gatwick drone attack that threw the airport into chaos last December was probably carried by an 'airport insider', it has been revealed.
The drone operators brought Britain's second-largest airport to standstill after they were spotted hovering above the runway.
It forced the airport to shut down for 33 hours just days before Christmas, disrupting 140,000 passengers' journeys.
Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief operating officer, has spoken for the first time since the incident - and believes the drone operators could either see what was taking place on the runway, or were eavesdropping on radio or internet communications.
Speaking to BBC's Panorama Programme, Mr Woodroofe, who was the 'gold commander' in charge of the airport's response to the attack, said the disruption was 'terrible'.
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He said: "It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport.
"It was terrible that 140,000 people's journeys were disrupted, but everyone was safe."
He also said there was "absolutely nothing" that he would have done differently as the safety of passengers was of paramount concern.
The incident happened between December 19 and 21 and resulted cancellations of 1,000 flights.
Sussex Police, also backed the 'insider' theory and said the possibility that the perpetrators could have included an airport insider is a 'credible line' of inquiry.
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Gatwick has since invested £5million on anti-drone equipment, which includes two sets of the AUDS [Anti UAV Defence Systems], made by a consortium of three British companies to prevent future flight disruption.
"We would know the drone was arriving on site and we'd know where that drone had come from, where it was going to and we'd have a much better change of catching the perpetrator," said Mr Woodroofe.
"What this incident has demonstrated is that a drone operator with malicious intent can cause serious disruption to airport operations.
"And it's clear that disruption could be carried over into other industries and other environments."
