Gatwick Airport (UK) suspends flights due to Drone activity

[WithTheBirds]

Not going to read any more replies, I want to keep the mental image that I've built of many users here so forgive me if I have (hopefully) echoed another.

The news being slung about this incident may very well be more accurate than I believe, and by extension those who believe most if not all of what the "news" delivers in the way of coverage for high profile incidents (typically in the form of repetitive short intense streams of information often vague and attributed to Anonymous Sources). I obviously do not buy most of the story and would ask that now that I have rather inexpertly delivered my opening statements in an inflammatory manner to take a brief moment to apply critical thinking to this situation and the coverage to date. Of note: battery life and its implication on loiter time over the target area, considering only the use of Mark I eyeballs and radios the remarkable ability for said operators to remain hidden given maximum operating distance from the target in such an RF and foliage crowded environment, motor lifetime when utilized for such extended periods, remarkable QC demonstrated by the lack of any failure on the part of the "culprits" gear, the failure of all proven commercial anti-drone products brought to bear by local authorities, and finally assuming a significantly eye-sight challenged group of law enforcement involved the inability to locate anyone using gear designed for the purpose. I would direct you to the recent "study" conducted in the U.S. near Embry-Riddle in Florida utilizing this technology to obtain make, model, serial, operator location etc.

Perhaps there are reasonable explanations for each of the (major) inconsistencies demonstrated in the incident as reported. I certainly do not have a reasonable alternative explanation, rather by applying logic and (estimated) probabilities to the troublesome circumstances / facts it is apparent to me that the "news" does not either.

badgenes

Say something nonsensical really loudly and run away with your fingers in your ears like the other 7 year olds....

All your arguments prove irrelevant if you consider it was one or more sUAV performing multiple flights.

 

[SpinItUp]

Express: Gatwick drone: How Army ENDED crisis using eye-watering £15.8million tech from SYRIA.
Gatwick drone: How Army ENDED crisis using eye-watering £15.8million tech from SYRIA

 

[mavic 999]

With multiple film crews and their thousands of pounds camera equipment they cannot get a photo of this imaginary drone.Helicopters cannot chase it although they can go 3 times their speed at least..The police and military cannot crash another drone into it or follow with a heat seeking Inspire. Multiple snipers can shoot at things and hit them at over 2000 yards.There is more going on here.

 

[FoxhallGH]

Would this be the study you are both referring to, please?:
Embry-Riddle Study Confirms Small Unmanned “Drones” Pose Increasing Risks to Aircraft - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

As a newbie, I'm trying to keep up with the discussion here...

Yes that's the one ... There is another post in this forum that covers this with a link to the full document. They acknowledge that there study was limited to DJI and therefore could have missed around 30% of the flights.

 

[Vimana]

The drone only has to appear over the airport for a few minutes to cause hours of disruption.

Spot on from me too. They just need to pop their head up like a gopher to send everyone into panic stations.

It is a classic situation of when a person is faced with making a decision on behalf of the safety of many people when posed with a novel or unprecedented challenge. There are many historical examples in healthcare or emergency services.

The reaction is almost always that to take actions with extreme caution (overprotection) because of uncertainty and the fear of consequences.

It can only be solved by reframing the problem so that the solutions aren't being made up as the situation evolves, by sharing the responsibilities and assessing acceptable risks by planning and rehearsing in teams. In other words, by having planned in detail in advance and tested with simulations.

The situation we are seeing here appears likely to reflect lack of detailed planning.

The much shorter airport closure time this evening demonstrates that those decision makers are starting to get a grip on this now.

 

[Splashy]

Express: Gatwick drone: How Army ENDED crisis using eye-watering £15.8million tech from SYRIA.
Gatwick drone: How Army ENDED crisis using eye-watering £15.8million tech from SYRIA

What an awful article that is with regards to spelling and grammatical errors.

 

[FoxhallGH]

With multiple film crews and their thousands of pounds camera equipment they cannot get a photo of this imaginary drone.Helicopters cannot chase it although they can go 3 times their speed at least..The police and military cannot crash another drone into it or follow with a heat seeking Inspire. Multiple snipers can shoot at things and hit them at over 2000 yards.There is more going on here.

If you think this is imaginary mate, you're not looking at the news feeds the rest of the country is ... There's a lot of good reasons why the perp's have been able to get away with it. We do still live in a country where the authorities ask questions first and shoot last thank goodness.

 

[InvisibleName]

With multiple film crews and their thousands of pounds camera equipment they cannot get a photo of this imaginary drone.Helicopters cannot chase it although they can go 3 times their speed at least..The police and military cannot crash another drone into it or follow with a heat seeking Inspire. Multiple snipers can shoot at things and hit them at over 2000 yards.There is more going on here.

Jeez! Get a life!!

 

[FoxhallGH]

What an awful article that is with regards to spelling and grammatical errors.

But never mind that the situation is finally being brought under control eh?

 

[Lady Rover]

Brought under control, and possibly with catching that drone.
Will be interesting if/when that piece of evidence is shown to the public.

 

[FoxhallGH]

Important now to hit social media with condemnation from the drone flying community so we are not seen as uncaring about this. I'll be dropping an email to my local MP too.

 

[ataraxia]

But never mind that the situation is finally being brought under control eh?

I've been following this very closely during the day and there is no new information in this awful article. They are only saying it's under control because they now have the detection systems in place, neither the drone(s) nor pilot(s) have been found yet. And I'm pretty sure the army OWNS six of these devices but has DEPLOYED one. At over £2.5m apiece I'd like to think one will cover a sufficient area such as an airport.

The hunt continues...

 

[Ed_2020]

It's the MIT saying: It’s only a matter of time before a drone takes down a passenger plane.
And no, technology can’t fix the problem.

It’s only a matter of time before a drone takes down a passenger plane

 

[ataraxia]

There is no technological shield to be had—only a moral one. Fortunately, that’s good enough—most of the time.

There you have it, folks. Instead of developing defense systems we should just hope that nobody does it again.

 

[gnirtS]

That would be even more "fun" since DJI's DroneID is no way near secure. If it's not what has already happened now, people with the intention of screwing things up would not need to even fly a drone and take or cause any risk to anyone, just broadcasting fake DroneID packets reporting a drone right in the middle of the approach when there is none would be enough to cause a panic...

While its true that its fairly trivial to root drone and alter what it sends, if you want to cause air traffic chaos like that, you may as well just sent out fake ADSB packets and create loads of phantom tracks and spurious TCAS warnings. That system is even LESS secure!

 

[gnirtS]

What an awful article that is with regards to spelling and grammatical errors.

Its the Express - worst type of tabloid paper. Its sensationalist and non factual. Basically UK fox news.

Every year we're going to have (i) The COLDEST winter in HISTORY with HUNDREDS killed, then (ii) The HOTTEST summer in HISTORY with HUNDREDS dead, a pharmaceutical scare, Princess Diana conspiracy theory then some outrage. Its best ignored and not treated as a real paper.

 

[gnirtS]

If you think this is imaginary mate, you're not looking at the news feeds the rest of the country is ... There's a lot of good reasons why the perp's have been able to get away with it. We do still live in a country where the authorities ask questions first and shoot last thank goodness.

Fortunately its a country where "shoot" at anything at all requires huge amounts of paperwork, authorisation, review and can only be done by people with large amounts of specialist extra training.

I still have my doubts this was anything more than 1, maybe 2 drone flights in total.

 

[gnirtS]

Two people arrested at 2200z

 

[WithTheBirds]

Two people arrested at 2200z

The Gatwick Grinches.....

 

[JDawg]

It's the MIT saying: It’s only a matter of time before a drone takes down a passenger plane.
And no, technology can’t fix the problem.

It’s only a matter of time before a drone takes down a passenger plane

'drone' or UFO?