Drones closing Airports

[MK 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.

There's no evidence to show who's doing it, if it was the "eco loons" then I'd imagine they'd announce it. These drones are the same weight & size to the Canadian geese that brought down flight 1549 that was skillfully piloted by Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) who brought the plane down on the Hudson river so you can imagine the damage they'd cause if they got sucked into the jet engines.

 

[Bielzibubz]

The software and technology is already available to fit GPS location transponders and RFI transmitters to ALL drones, big or small, and the technology is also available to fit perimeter RFI receivers at all airports. Once a drone breaks the perimeter signal it can be force to return to its base controller as some more expensive ones already do when the software indicates its either venturing out of range or battery power. The problem is and has always been getting or forcing the manufacturers of these drones to fit the software and parts. With the global markets being what they are it's understandable too.

 

[Ricey]

There's no evidence to show who's doing it, if it was the "eco loons" then I'd imagine they'd announce it. These drones are the same weight & size to the Canadian geese that brought down flight 1549 that was skillfully piloted by Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) who brought the plane down on the Hudson river so you can imagine the damage they'd cause if they got sucked into the jet engines.

And that is the exact risk, having worked on airports, airfields and flying bases for over 10 years I know the risk these can pose. Although unfortunate for those waiting for their Christmas flights this was the correct decision by Gatwick big wigs. I’m sure those people won’t appreciate it now but I’m sure they appreciate losing money/time on their holiday instead of their lives.

Drones are the future I’m afraid and these sorts of incidents go on far too often and they need to put more stringent and serious punishments in place.

 

[GBJ]

There's no evidence to show who's doing it, if it was the "eco loons" then I'd imagine they'd announce it.

No, but let’s be honest, they have motive.

Look on the brightside, at least it’s not Muslims being blamed.

Yet.

 

[MK Shrimper]

No, but let’s be honest, they have motive.

Look on the brightside, at least it’s not Muslims being blamed.

Yet.

Muslim Eco Loons? We're doomed!

 

[Bielzibubz]

Let's be real here. A thirty year prison sentence is going to be of no deterrent when there is little to no prospect of actually getting caught. The law already dictates that the person controlling the drone must stay in line of sight with it at all times. Now we know that doesn't have to be the case. On board cameras see to that.

An eco warrior, a bored 17 year old or just someone that wants to cause as much disruption as possible can do so quite easily with £50 in his bin and a trip to Man Kind at Lakeside and if he's willing to kiss his £50 quid good buy can do so with literally no chance of being caught.

From his back garden, back seat of a car or his bedroom window, 40/60 seconds and his £50 quid drone is over the perimeter fence of an airport and its chaos caused.

Until the technology that's available is put in place this won't be the last time this kind of incident happens.

 

[GBJ]

And that is the exact risk, having worked on airports, airfields and flying bases for over 10 years I know the risk these can pose. Although unfortunate for those waiting for their Christmas flights this was the correct decision by Gatwick big wigs. I’m sure those people won’t appreciate it now but I’m sure they appreciate losing money/time on their holiday instead of their lives.

FWIW, I think most people’s frustrations & anger are aimed at the wrong’uns piloting the drones, not with the airport.

It’d take a seriously messed up individual to actually blame the airport for taking the most obvious and basic of safety precautions

 

[MK Shrimper]

Snipers now brought in to take them out. Watch out for them stray bullets Eugene.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Snipers now brought in to take them out. Watch out for them stray bullets Eugene.

I would love a job shooting down drones.

Where do I send my CV?

 

[MK Shrimper]

I would love a job shooting down drones.

Where do I send my CV?

To Noel Edmonds. Ring 01 811 8055.

 

[Ricey]

FWIW, I think most people’s frustrations & anger are aimed at the wrong’uns piloting the drones, not with the airport.

It’d take a seriously messed up individual to actually blame the airport for taking the most obvious and basic of safety precautions[

https://twitter.com/x/status/1075780251718828034

There’s always the odd idiot out there.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

There's no evidence to show who's doing it, if it was the "eco loons" then I'd imagine they'd announce it.

It's not necessarily eco loons, although they did immediately spring to mind. Could be some Russian tourists who are just innocently trying to take some aerial photos of the world famous Salisbury spire.

 

[GBJ]

The only way to solve & prevent this from happening again, is to erect a canopy or net over the airport & runway

 

[GBJ]

Snipers now brought in to take them out. Watch out for them stray bullets Eugene.

Gazza’s hurtling down the M23 with a crate of Castlemaine four X, a bargain bucket & a fishing rod.

He’ll talk some sense into the drone, before it hurts itself.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Hubby was due to pick a family up from Gatwick in the morning, poor people have been fed vague information all day as to what's happening. They were initially told they'd be landing at Heathrow and he could pick them up from there, then that they'd be landing there and bussed back to Gatwick, then that they could be landing anywhere - even as far as having their destination airport changed whilst in the air.

Fortunately, the guy has realised that it's quite impractical for Kev to hang about on the off chance - which he couldn't do anyway as he has another job within 4 hours of the scheduled arrival time - and he's cancelled the booking. The airline/airport have a duty of care to its passengers which will provide recompense for costs involved for them so he's going to go that route.

All evening though, we've been taking calls from other taxi drivers who've also had changes to scheduled times of arrival, to see if Kev can do it instead. It's an absolute nightmare out there for everyone involved.

 

[Ricey]

Another drone spotted flying over Gatwick in the last hour.

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

Authorities are aware that there has been an increase in drone usage near airports and have done very little to stop it.Perhaps how they will invest in the technology which apparently is available before it's too late and we are talking about a catastrophe instead.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Authorities are aware that there has been an increase in drone usage near airports and have done very little to stop it.Perhaps how they will invest in the technology which apparently is available before it's too late and we are talking about a catastrophe instead.

It really is incredible that there has been over 90 drone/airport incidents in the last year. Normally the drone flies back to the owner before it's a major incident. But in this case the owner has kept the flights going on purpose of course. So the warnings were there that there would eventually be a shut down, and yet the government did nothing. A guy on the news said he has the technology and system to find the controller.
Copy and pasted.
Ground-breaking drone-detection technology is available to monitor and spot UAVs – which could potentially stop major incidents like the recent disruption at Gatwick Airport.

The DJI AeroScope system is a sophisticated and comprehensive platform that rapidly identifies UAV communication links, gathering real-time information such as flight status, paths, serial number, speed, direction and home position, as well as the make and model. This monitoring data stream helps AeroScope users make an informed response and security decision as soon as possible.
It is used at some airports already. Why not Gatwick I don't know.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Apparantly it's all a bizarre conspiracy false flag theory according to the tin foil hatted members of Twitter.

 

[southendkid]

It really is incredible that there has been over 90 drone/airport incidents in the last year. Normally the drone flies back to the owner before it's a major incident. But in this case the owner has kept the flights going on purpose of course. So the warnings were there that there would eventually be a shut down, and yet the government did nothing. A guy on the news said he has the technology and system to find the controller.
Copy and pasted.
Ground-breaking drone-detection technology is available to monitor and spot UAVs – which could potentially stop major incidents like the recent disruption at Gatwick Airport.

The DJI AeroScope system is a sophisticated and comprehensive platform that rapidly identifies UAV communication links, gathering real-time information such as flight status, paths, serial number, speed, direction and home position, as well as the make and model. This monitoring data stream helps AeroScope users make an informed response and security decision as soon as possible.
It is used at some airports already. Why not Gatwick I don't know.

I'd be very surprised if a airport of Gatwick's size hasn't has security consultants tell them constantly about this threat, this probably boils down to the people in charge failing to take the warnings seriously and so they were ignored them in order to save time and money in the short run. The same thing happened when the WannaCry ransomware hit so many businesses, the warnings about keeping your computers up to date were always there but were ignored by many businesses until it was too late.