Extinction Rebellion protests: Paralympian James Brown climbs on roof of British Airways plane at London City Airport
Paralympic athlete climbs on top of a jet at London airport and glues himself to the roof | WATCH
A Paralympic athlete climbed on top of a British Airways plane at London City Airport and glued himself to the roof today as part of the Extinction Rebellion protests.
James Brown, a bronze medal-winning cyclist who took part in an attempt last month to shut down Heathrow with toy drones, filmed the incident and live-streamed it to Facebook. He managed to get through airport security carrying a tube of glue.
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“OK, here I am, top of a f***ing aeroplane at City Airport. I hate heights, I’m shitting myself. I managed to get on the roof. Oh man I’m shaking,” Mr Brown said.
An earlier flight had been forced to abort its take-off after another protester who had bought a ticket stood up and delivered a lecture on climate change to fellow passengers as the plane sat on the runway.
Extinction Rebellion failed in its objective of shutting the airport but protesters caused long delays for hundreds of passengers and exposed weaknesses in the massive police operation aimed at preventing disruption.
Firefighters and police using a cherry picker removed Mr Brown from the roof of the plane after about an hour, by which time BA had cancelled the flight to Amsterdam.
The Metropolitan Police knew well in advance that Extinction Rebellion protesters would attempt to disrupt the airport by buying tickets. An aviation industry source said that officers had been working with airlines to try to identify the protesters from passenger lists.
Mr Brown, 54, one of the most well-known protesters who was arrested inside Heathrow’s Terminal 2 last month, was not challenged despite more than 400 police guarding all approaches to the airport today.
Extinction Rebellion had announced last week that it would protest at City Airport today.
A spokesman for the airport said: “We can confirm that a booked passenger that climbed on top of an aircraft at London City Airport has been removed. We are working with all partners to investigate, and ensure the safe and secure continuation of service.
“A number of protesters remain outside the front of the airport terminal and we are working hard with the Metropolitan Police to minimise disruption to passengers. As of 12.15pm, there were 55 arrivals and 58 departures.
“If you are flying to or from London City today, please check the status of your flight with your airline before travelling to the airport.”
In the earlier incident on the runway, pilots of the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin returned the plane to the terminal in east London and police removed the smartly dressed middle-aged man. The flight departed more than an hour late.
Nick Watt, a BBC journalist on the disrupted Aer Lingus flight, wrote on Twitter: “On runway and about to take off when smartly dressed man in late middle age stood up with iPhone to deliver lecture on climate change up and down aisle.
My flight from London City airport to Dublin has just been grounded by a climate change protestor. On runway and about to take off when smartly dressed man in late middle age stood up with iPhone to deliver lecture on climate change up and down aisle
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) October 10, 2019
“Cabin crew calmly and very politely asked protestor to resume his seat. Politely but persistently he declined and proceeded to deliver his lecture on climate change in aisle. Some passengers annoyed, others listened to lecture with humour as cabin crew alerted pilot.
“Pilot taxied back to gate where plane was met by throng of police. They came on board and escorted the protestor off the plane. No skirmish and protestor left the plane.”
Mr Watt added: “The final irony of the climate protest on our flight. We cannot take off until we have taken on extra fuel ... to replace the fuel used up during the protest, our pilot notes with humour.”
A heavy police presence prevented protesters from blocking the terminal. About 200 protesters took part in the action, far fewer than Extinction Rebellion had expected. Police arrested more than 50 people, quickly removing those who lay in front of the terminal building.
Among those arrested was Phil Kingston, 83, a retired probation officer, who has been arrested eight times in the past year for taking part in Extinction Rebellion protests.
About 60 protesters blocked the airport entrance to the Docklands Light Railway, but passengers were redirected to an unobstructed entry.
Several protesters tried to trick their way into the terminal by showing fake boarding passes to security staff at the entrance. At least one protester managed to get in this way.
Many passengers were forced to drag suitcases the last 500 metres to the airport after the protesters sat in the road outside the terminal building, causing long queues of buses and taxis.
An elderly couple with glue on their hands attempted to run at the doors to the airport and stick themselves to them, but were intercepted by officers.
Two men climbed on the roof of the terminal building and one unfurled a pink banner over the main entrance saying “our fragile planet is dying”.
Henrietta Bewley, 57, a former business analyst for BA, was one of the protesters who failed to get inside the airport.
She said that having worked for the airline gave her a “keener sense of protest”. She had brought her passport and a suitcase in an attempt to enter the airport. However, she did not have a boarding pass and was turned back. She said that her bag was filled with Extinction Rebellion flyers that she had planned to hand out on the concourse.
“I used to fly a lot, which I now feel very guilty about. I take the train now to visit my partner in Germany,” she said.
The airport protest failed to attract as many activists as Extinction Rebellion had hoped for.
Tamzen Grove, 36, a yoga teacher, said that the police crackdown on Westminster had meant fewer protesters were willing to decamp and join the sit-in. “I’d expected there to be more people,” she said.
Thomas Hock, 50, a consultant, said that he arrived an hour earlier than he would have done for his flight to Amsterdam.
He said: “I arrived on the DLR and when I saw the protesters sitting at the entrance I thought, ‘This isn’t good.’ I have an important meeting today.
“But then the police showed me a different way and so far it seems OK. Maybe I didn’t need to come so early.”
Michael Halacker, 62, a global sales manager, arrived at the airport from Frankfurt.
“I saw the protesters as I was coming out, but I haven’t had any problem. It was fine. I’m flying back tomorrow though, so hopefully there won’t be any trouble then.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said today that all Extinction Rebellion protests had been cleared from most of London, though some remained at Trafalgar Square and camps remained in St James’s Park.
He said: “In central London, all of the areas where protesters have been from Monday have now been cleared, except for some tents and a few protests in St James’s Park, which are clearing as we speak. A few protesters are locked in at that location.”
He said that a “fairly significant group” remained at Trafalgar Square. “Trafalgar Square is the only main site left in London,” he said.
He added that they were now looking at “what we can do to get things moving” on the roads.
In total more than 1,000 people have been arrested since Monday, he said.
The year-old Extinction Rebellion group is spearheading a two-week global campaign that kicked off Monday with partial shutdowns of traffic in cities stretching from Sydney to New York.
Their main focus has been London, where the fast-growing group backed by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg was formed by UK academics studying the effects of harmful carbon emissions on Earth.
London police reported making more than 500 arrests in the first two days of protests that included campaigners glueing themselves to the pavement and chaining themselves to cars.
Extinction Rebellion said its “Hong Kong style” occupation of London City Airport will start on Thursday at 9:00 am (0800 GMT) and run through Saturday night.
“The Fly Today, No Tomorrow action will involve a ‘Hong Kong style’ occupation of the terminal building, lying, sitting or glueing-on in front of the departure and arrivals gates,” it said in a statement.
“Hundreds of participants have already signed up to nonviolently use their bodies to close the airport, and are willing to sacrifice their liberty to achieve this aim.” Extinction Rebellion said it was targeting the east London airport because it was planning a £2-billion ($2.4-billion / 2.2-billion-euro) expansion.
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