Cops are probing a line of inquiry the huge disruption caused at the airport was an inside job, Whitehall sources told the Times.
It is now thought a current or former airport employee was behind the cancellation of hundreds of flights for three days before Christmas last year.
Today we revealed there were 109 sightings from “professional eye witnesses familiar with or working within the airport operating environment”.
That brings the total eye witness accounts of an illegal drone, or drones, at Gatwick between December 19 and December 21 to 130.
But cops still don't know who was responsible for bringing the airport to a standstill.
Sussex Police has made 1,100 door-to-door inquiries, pulling in four other forces to help hunt down the culprit.
Witness reports have suggested the drone was operated by someone who knew the airport layout well – taunting cops by sitting in the blind spots where it couldn't be taken down by counterdrone equipment.
The operator also knew to fly by air traffic control, where staff would be unable to film it due to a ban on mobiles.
One source said: "[The drone pilot] knew the blind spots for it, where it could not be ‘hit’.
"It was clearly someone with really good knowledge of Gatwick, someone who had worked there. Hypothetically it could have been a disgruntled employee."
'GRINCH WAS AIRPORT WORKER'
Another added: "The thinking is that it is someone who had good knowledge of the airport layout. The ‘disgruntled employee’ theory is running high."
Sussex cops came under fire for arresting a local couple – then saying there may not have been a drone in the first place.
They later retracted the statement and Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, said police had "not handled their communication response well.”
A spokesman for Sussex Police told the Sun Online: “The illegal drone incursions on this occasion were unprecedented, unpredictable and sustained and happened at times of the day making it difficult for the existing technology to track and identify.
“We continue our criminal investigation, which is challenging in its scale and in the type and quality of evidence immediately available.
“Despite a reward of £50,000 for public information leading police to the person or persons responsible, we have not received the critical information that we believed exists within the community.
“There were at times more than 50 officers and support staff working on the case with support, as required, at a national level.
"This has reduced as the investigation progressed to a level deemed appropriate to manage outstanding enquiries.”
The news comes as it was revealed Britain will slap a three-mile “drone exclusion zone” around major airports from March 13.
And the Home Office confirms a new Bill will be laid later this year to give police powers to stop and search drone users – and access electronic data stored on the hi-tech device.
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