Birmingham Airport briefly suspended all services citing an air traffic control fault, becoming the latest British hub to halt its work in days – and heating up online conspiracy theories in wake of the Gatwick “drone crisis.”
A brief statement issued by the airport said it “had to temporarily suspend services due to an air traffic control fault,” without giving any further details. Passengers were advised to check schedules while the airport was working “to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
Luckily for the travellers, the airport managed to promptly resolve the issues, stating that all operations have resumed.
The incident follows a string of alleged drone sightings at London’s Gatwick Airport, which were enough to shut it down for over 30 hours this week. Thousands of passengers became stranded or had to rebook their flights.
Neither the drone nor its pilot have been found by the police so far. Moreover, the latest police comment cited by media said there may not have been any pesky UAV at Gatwick at all.
Also on rt.com Air traffic out of control: Gatwick caught short by drones over the runwayIt is no surprise that the new air traffic disruption at Birmingham in wake of the Gatwick mayhem has evoked a horde of conspiracy theorists and jokers alike trying to 'explain' the coincidence.
Some questioned the official explanation given for the traffic suspension– because, of course, the government is hiding “the truth.”
A few blamed aliens in a solid old-school move.
But others chose to stay more in vein with the recent trends and laid the blame on “the Russians” instead.
Of course, things got political pretty quick, with some witty commenters suggesting that the whole air traffic mess had something to do with Brexit.
Thankfully there was a lone Christmas conspiracy theory too, but it blamed the striking Santa Claus’ reindeer in a telling sign of our times.
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