BREAKING Flights at Gatwick Airport halted amid reports of drone flying in area

[Asgard]

I agree ataraxia, we allready have laws covering this, inventing new ones helps nobody but the next generation of pen pushers.

unfortunately it's the easy way out for the establishment to pretend they are doing something usefull.
Proper sentencing is whats needed in this country it's no use catching criminals and giving them a couple of months free board and lodge, lock em up for a suitable period and only let em out to work for their keep.

 

[choo choo]

I thought they were training birds of prey to take out drones at airports etc? Obviously they didn't.

Seems like a coordinated disruption with a bank of batteries on charge, rather than someone with limited flying skills.

I shudder to think of the economic cost, they said 700+ flights cancelled! Be interesting to see if they're able to catch the dickheads involved.

Not sure if the dicky birds can fly at night.

 

[choo choo]

Sooo Gatwick airport is brought to a standstill by a drone? Er.. no, it has been brought to a standstill by the near hysterical reaction of those in charge and the inability to deal with a simple situation other than escalate it into a major incident making the airport a national laughing stock around the world. My heart goes out to all those who’s lives have been disrupted by this farce, and the inability of anyone to deal with the situation other than to close the airport, at what should be a happy time of year for them as they prepare to fly to meet loved ones and families or trips to Lapland.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I can't see why there would need to be a change in the rules and regulations as what these drones are supposedly doing is already completely illegal and it seems unlikely it's been done with consumer drones either.

There's been claims about drone sightings at airports for as long as I've had my Mavic 1 I'm aware of and probably older as well, from what I recall there's at least on previous occasion it shut down Gatwick as well. Yet they don't seem to have anything in place to stop these drones and there's still not a single picture or video of these drones, going by the current reports there's been a constant onslaught of drones but they haven't been able to track one, get one down or even record it. I'm not saying these drones don't exist but what's being reported just doesn't make any sense.

 

[choo choo]

I have to say this is odd.
I doubt any, even the most stupid hobbyist (the application of common sense akin to buying a bicycle, getting excited at the possibilities it offers, and deciding to go for a ride on the motorway) would be out flying a drone at night, in what appears to be rainy conditions too. Let alone two of them. That just doesn't add up. And while I am just as disdainful as the majority of us are about those who leap on the conspiracy theory band wagon (really, get a grip you weirdos) I am beginning to suspect it's a deliberate act to disrupt air travel/traffic for an as yet undefined reason.

I guess we will find out as time passes and some crank group admit the act.

I agree, something is very very fishy about all this. Either we are being visited by beings from another planet, tho why the heck they chose a god forsaken airport near Sussex is beyond me, why not land on the Whitehouse lawn and give our American cousins a thrill.

 

[IanChap]

Not sure if the dicky birds can fly at night.

Good point!

 

[Ren57]

I’m really worried this hobby is going to get massively restricted for all of us because of a minority of idiots like this.

Indeed. The news is not good and we can expect more s**t coming our way because of this. From what I've read so far, the rozzers reckon they are industrial sized drones and that this is a deliberate act? Mmmmm. After the pages and pages of news coverage this has already generated and with TV crews on the spot and just about every person that has got a fairly good quality camera in their phones, I'm yet to see any convincing pictures or video of the drones in question. Just a short video taken at night that looked like an aircraft or helicopter to me. I'm not saying this is not a drone/drones but I want to see indisputable evidence....... Otherwise, it's just another UFO story - Where's commander Straker?

 

[Storyline]

It does appear to be a well thought out deliberate attack on the airport designed to cause as much disruption as possible. I was surprised to hear a report that the police have discounted a link with terrorism and suggests they know something we don't.

I agree with everyone that this is very bad news for us responsible pilots. I have already heard a radio interview with someone who is employed in the airport industry saying the current 1km from an airport no fly zone is woefully inadequate.

In my opinion there needs to be a drone trade body which is well funded and which could employ PR agents and lobby companies to actively promote the safe flying of drones. The problem is that a lot of the manufacturers are based in China and although the Chinese are excellent at making things they are notorious for taking a short term isolationist view and I find it hard to imagine the rival manufacturers working on something together. There is so much money in an industry that comprises manufacturers, importers/distributors and retailers however that if some creative thinking could come up with a solution then the required finance should be easy to raise. It may be sufficient just to concentrate efforts initially in just the UK & USA as the CAA and the FAA are both so highly regarded around the world. A trade body with a powerful lobby group and advertising budget would cost multi million £/$'s.

I fear that if nothing is done, in the long term it might become difficult for a private individual to own a drone weighing more than a few grams/ounces. I am utterly serious and I think we are already on a knife edge. One aircraft disaster with a high loss of life that was clearly caused by a collision with a consumer drone could very easily result in a complete ban of drones for recreational purposes. Such is the current poor public image of drones you could hardly blame the government for making such a decision.

As well as the industry taking action, so too have airports. It is ridiculous that two little drones with presumably flight times under half an hour can cripple a busy airport and cause tens of millions of pounds worth of losses and badly inconvenience thousands of people. Not only just once but they have been able to brazenly fly around the runway on several occasions spanning many hours. The mind boggles but the airport will still just simply turn round to us and say "It's your fault, these drones are just too dangerous". Imagine this happening on a military airfield - they would be taken down in minutes if not seconds and so all airports have to have quick and effective defences. Apart from simply shooting them down they should also be able to pin point the source of the Tx and have police there in minutes.

Maybe this will turn out to be the wake up call that is so badly needed.

 

[sar104]

Indeed. The news is not good and we can expect more s**t coming our way because of this. From what I've read so far, the rozzers reckon they are industrial sized drones and that this is a deliberate act? Mmmmm. After the pages and pages of news coverage this has already generated and with TV crews on the spot and just about every person that has got a fairly good quality camera in their phones, I'm yet to see any convincing pictures or video of the drones in question. Just a short video taken at night that looked like an aircraft or helicopter to me. I'm not saying this is not a drone/drones but I want to see indisputable evidence....... Otherwise, it's just another UFO story - Where's commander Straker?

I'm sure that Gatwick LE and everyone else involved is working tirelessly to get you the evidence that you require.

 

[IanChap]

They've just said on the radio news that it's a 'commercial drone'.

Probably better news for us than some nuisance hobbyist, even if a bit more sinister.

 

[ataraxia]

I agree with everyone that this is very bad news for us responsible pilots. I have already heard a radio interview with someone who is employed in the airport industry saying the current 1km from an airport no fly zone is woefully inadequate.

It doesn't matter if the law says 1km, 5km, 10km or 100km. The fact is they've flown into the middle of it. I can't get my head around people constantly saying there need to be tighter laws, but nobody saying we need more enforcement of the existing laws. These pilots have already broken the law, so more laws aren't going to help!

 

[sar104]

It doesn't matter if the law says 1km, 5km, 10km or 100km. The fact is they've flown into the middle of it. I can't get my head around people constantly saying there need to be tighter laws, but nobody saying we need more enforcement of the existing laws. These pilots have already broken the law, so more laws aren't going to help!

It's almost certainly going to be technological solutions, not legislation, that fixes these problems, although legislation may be needed to enable the use of the technology. There are already wide-area anti-drone systems that can both detect and jam drone control communications for all the readily-available brands of UAV deployed at a number of sites in the US.

 

[mnis]

Our mindless and unimaginative press here is probably already sure that it must be drones by DJI.

Anyway, people took a picture as a hanger for their headlines, which suggests a DJI product. Of course, the most popular products are ideal for such reports. Is it too hard to question anything? There seems to be nothing better than DJI products.

There are enough drone manufacturers with products for all kinds of applications, from mail to military, but they all seem to be unfit.

In every area of our lives there are bullheads, monkeys and pigs...[emoji12]

 

[adam3112]

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but there is something not quite right about these reports. Not seen any clear pics / videos of these drones either which further fuels my suspicion.

I dunno, it just all seems very odd, and why is it taking nearly a whole day to deal with the matter? We look like a seriously incompetent, useless country right now.

 

[Rick W]

I wish that "responsible drone pilots" had a voice through a membership organization who could disseminate the message that what has happened at Gatwick Airport is not who we are or what we are about. I fear in that absence of that voice, we become one with those who have chosen to break the law and endanger lives.

 

[sparkorc]

Just checked BBC News Channel and this is what they are saying right now, I cant understand why its taking so long to shut down or track these drones its also been said they are industrial drones, which would explain some of the problems the police are having, tracking these drones will probally operating from a long way out making it difficult to track.

Extracted from the BBC.
Army deploying 'specialist equipment'

An army spokesman said specialist equipment is being deployed at Gatwick Airport.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the perpetrators will be caught, and face a prison sentence.

 

[abtocmeptb]

History repeats itself
Remember CIA recruited and trained Osama bin Laden? And what he ended up doing to USA?

British government almost openly supported and trained Syrian terrorists including warfare with drones.
Now some of those terrorists are back in England. With access to funds and technology.

 

[adam3112]

History repeats itself
Remember CIA recruited and trained Osama bin Laden? And what he ended up doing to USA?

British government almost openly supported and trained Syrian terrorists including warfare with drones.
Now some of those terrorists are back in England. With access to funds and technology.

Sadly with the current state of affairs, I wouldn't be surprised if this was true.

 

[Gooseman]

It doesn't matter if the law says 1km, 5km, 10km or 100km. The fact is they've flown into the middle of it. I can't get my head around people constantly saying there need to be tighter laws, but nobody saying we need more enforcement of the existing laws. These pilots have already broken the law, so more laws aren't going to help!

Exactly. It's a bit like saying: "Because some people have driven on a motorway at 100+ mph, we are going to reduce the motorway speed limit to 50Mph".

 

[sar104]

History repeats itself
Remember CIA recruited and trained Osama bin Laden? And what he ended up doing to USA?

British government almost openly supported and trained Syrian terrorists including warfare with drones.
Now some of those terrorists are back in England. With access to funds and technology.

I mean nothing distracts from internal Brexit problems like Russian or Muslim terrorists.

In case with Osama no one benefitted more from that act than US government. I don’t believe they orchestrated it. But pretty sure they monitored it and let it to happen.

I mean life changed after this. From Patriot Act inside USA to multiple illegal wars in a Middle East culminated in Syrian war.
Let’s hope it’s stops there.

Which is it - foreign terrorists or the UK government trying to distract from Brexit?