A man has been charged with flying a drone near Heathrow Airport on Christmas Eve.

George Rusu, 38, allegedly used a drone on a field near one of the two runways at Britain's busiest airport on 24 December.

The alleged incident happened just three days after Gatwick fully reopened following three days of flight cancellations and delays, affecting about 140,000 passengers, caused by drone sightings.

Rusu, of Blunts Avenue, Hillingdon, will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

He is charged with flying a "small unmanned aircraft without permission of air traffic control", according to court documents.


The drone did not cause disruption to Heathrow, unlike another drone sighting on 8 January which shut down one runway for just over an hour.