Drones closing Airports

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Is it about time drones were banned from public use and being sold to the general public? Gatwick Airport has been closed for flights from 9pm last night and expected to be open some time this morning because of two drones deliberately flying over the airport. The police are still trying to locate the operator. The drones keeps appearing and then disappearing, having flown for over 12 hours. Thousands of people have had flights cancelled, delayed or diverted, some diverted to as far away as Paris and Amsterdam. I really feel for the passengers. Drones are good in the right hands under the right circumstances, but can also be used for very bad things like this and getting drugs and weapons into prisons etc, etc. Now that it's shown they can shut down an airport, it will probably be done again. This Christmas, drone sales are expected to beat all records.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Should those who fly them legally be penalised for the actions of a few criminals/morons? You could argue that same in regards to cars. Nobody has died due to the use of drones (as far as I know) but an average of 10 people will die today in RTAs.

 

[HypoTypo]

Plans are in hand to change the laws on drone use and this will include owners having to register devices and have transponders fitted so owners can be traced. However this will only affect drones over a certain weight.
Laws and associated fines are already in place and under The aviation act if you want to put anything above 10 meters within 6km of an airfield permission has to be seeked first.
As usual, it's one thing having a law, it's another enforcing it

 

[HypoTypo]

And ..... it not all about the aircraft hitting them either as the media states. The radar systems at airports pick them up miles away and then aircraft get diverted until they know what the object on the radar is

 

[Mad Cyril]

Should those who fly them legally be penalised for the actions of a few criminals/morons? You could argue that same in regards to cars. Nobody has died due to the use of drones (as far as I know) but an average of 10 people will die today in RTAs.

I am all for people flying drones as long as it does not inconvenience me personally.

Or put other people at risk.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I am all for people flying drones as long as it does not inconvenience me personally.

Or put other people at risk.

Agreed. Situations like this at Gatwick are incredibly rare - I can completely understand the anger if you're unable to fly due to the actions of this selfish git, but an outright ban on drones seems draconic.

Catch the person doing this, impose a heavy jail term on them. Maybe that will send out a message.

 

[HypoTypo]

I have drones and never fly them in busy areas. As usual it's the one or two idiots that ruin it for everyone else.

Here's a handy link about the rules if your really bored and fancy a read (or considering purchasing a drone).

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unm...Permissions-and-exemptions-for-drone-flights/

 

[Mad Cyril]

I used to fly drones but I'm more into letting off illegal Chinese fireworks these days.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Should those who fly them legally be penalised for the actions of a few criminals/morons? You could argue that same in regards to cars. Nobody has died due to the use of drones (as far as I know) but an average of 10 people will die today in RTAs.

You can't possibly compare drones to vehicles. In Britain right now there is probably a few million vehicles on the road. Right now about Britain there is probably a few hundred at most drones in the sky. There have been many accidents because of drones including Last November an 18-month-old toddler from Stourport-on-Severn, Worcester, reportedly had his eyeball sliced in half by the propeller of an out-of-control drone. There was also a crash next to Wandsworth prison a couple of years ago when a young lady in her 20s died and a young man was in critical condition. The crash was caused by a drone. There have been many people hit by drones, but not fatal. Vehicles are necessary, drones are not.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Agreed. Situations like this at Gatwick are incredibly rare - I can completely understand the anger if you're unable to fly due to the actions of this selfish git, but an outright ban on drones seems draconic.

Catch the person doing this, impose a heavy jail term on them. Maybe that will send out a message.

On the news today they said there have been over 90 drone situations this last year around airports. It's just that this one the controller has not stopped, so they have had to go to shut down.

 

[MK Shrimper]

You can't possibly compare drones to vehicles. In Britain right now there is probably a few million vehicles on the road. Right now about Britain there is probably a few hundred at most drones in the sky. There have been many accidents because of drones including Last November an 18-month-old toddler from Stourport-on-Severn, Worcester, reportedly had his eyeball sliced in half by the propeller of an out-of-control drone. There was also a crash next to Wandsworth prison a couple of years ago when a young lady in her 20s died and a young man was in critical condition. The crash was caused by a drone. There have been many people hit by drones, but not fatal. Vehicles are necessary, drones are not.

Again, not so. Drones are used in NR to examine assets that were once only possible with binoculars or on ladders (such as OLE). I'm sure other industries rely on them, and they're widely used in the media.

 

[HypoTypo]

Again, not so. Drones are used in NR to examine assets that were once only possible with binoculars or on ladders (such as OLE). I'm sure other industries rely on them, and they're widely used in the media.

Even the police and fire services use them now.

Amazon delivery anyone ?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Again, not so. Drones are used in NR to examine assets that were once only possible with binoculars or on ladders (such as OLE). I'm sure other industries rely on them, and they're widely used in the media.

If you read my opening post I am saying that they do a lot of good in the right hands. It's when they are abused by the general public.

 

[HypoTypo]

I used to fly drones but I'm more into letting off illegal Chinese fireworks these days.

Just a normal day in my household

 

[Member]

Hopefully the people responsible are charged with terrorism offences (like the Stansted 15)

 

[MK Shrimper]

If you read my opening post I am saying that they do a lot of good in the right hands. It's when they are abused by the general public.

A tiny proportion of. 90 incidents, whilst I agree totally frustrating for those involved is a miniscule proportion of the 770,000 flights taken off from the UK this year.

 

[GBJ]

My mum & sister were caught up in this **** last night. Their flight from Cape Verde, had to be diverted to Brest, where they stayed until the small hours of this morning, before eventually arriving back at Stansted around 5ish.

Wouldn’t be surprised if this was the work of some crackpot environmentalist(s), similar to the ones who stormed a runway a while back.

The only kind of suitable punishment for these people, is a lengthy prison sentence. See how important air pollution is to them, when they’re caught in the showers by Big Dave.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

A tiny proportion of. 90 incidents, whilst I agree totally frustrating for those involved is a miniscule proportion of the 770,000 flights taken off from the UK this year.

Take this Gatwick airport shut down. Stories are coming out now about people flying to have a life saving operation. Holidays that were booked a year ago, cancelled. Weddings booked, now cancelled, with some guests already at the destination. Out of those Thousands of passengers, there will be loads of similar stories of how this has affected them. There were also 20 police units out searching for the controller. If you needed the police desperately around the Gatwick area, you had no chance. So the knock on disruption and cost to people is massive as well.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

As GBJ says, it's probably the work of the eco-loons who are against the third runway and have just ruined Christmas for thousands of people, although I don't quite understand how two little drones can bring a whole airport down for a few days.

 

[RobM]

I understand the drones fitted with GPS have a blocking facility so that they cannot fly close to airports or other such locations.