Heathrow drone: George Rusu charged with flying device near airport days after Gatwick chaos

[BobbyBrownPants]

BBC News - Heathrow: Man charged with flying drone near airport http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46935933

And there's your Scapegoat...

Not one media outlet has given the location, which I bet is probably just inside the restriction zone. And there's no details on what type of drone or how high it was etc.

 

[zocalo]

My thoughts too - very light on details, but given charges have been brought I'd tend to think it was at least inside the NFZ with a drone capable of getting into a flight path. The police might not have the best perception of being on top of technology crimes, but it wouldn't be too hard to verify in this case.

Even if this was a simple test flight of the kind many of us would do in our gardens that never goes above fence height that would still be a pretty dumb thing to do inside the NFZ in the immediate wake of Gatwick. I guess now it's down to how the court looks on the circumstances; if it is determined to be "just" an ill-advised test flight he'll probably get a fine and caution, if it is deemed more willful (or a message is to be sent) then we're probably going to see a scapegoat and a custodial sentence.

I was actually more interested in that this event seems to have taken place within days of Gatwick (e.g. more than a week before the Heathrow drone related shutdown) and appears to have gone completely unreported at the time. That certainly implies a low-key arrest without anyone noticing, so either he was spotted and arrested almost immediately, or LHR's anti-drone tech they claimed to already have in place was working and nailed him. Either way it all happened without the media finding out until now, despite the January incident, so read into that what you will.

 

[Steedie]

funny how a company that jams 2.4 ghz signals was not allowed to work in uk until the gatwick senario they now have a multi million pound contract with the airport i say they were responsible for flying the drones what you guys think

 

[IanChap]

Conspiracy!

But what interests me is that all this jamming technology isn't going to help if someone programmes a mission in Litchi or similar is it? Unless they can transmit a signal that overrides waypoints.

 

[Steedie]

The signal between the transmitter and aircraft 2.4 ghz is the target

 

[Keule]

Unless they can transmit a signal that overrides waypoints.

If GNSS signal is being jammed, the FC does not know its current position and where to go. When the uplink signal is also jammed from RC to AC then the aircraft lands wherever it is.

 

[4wd]

It's rather strange that we are told multiple drones repeatedly hovered over the runway at Gatwick and could not be followed to base or even photographed, but this one seen briefly, and not even near the flightpath the owner has been traced and charge.

You're supposed to think "oh no can't fly at airport now - will get caught"

 

[zocalo]

It's rather strange that we are told multiple drones repeatedly hovered over the runway at Gatwick and could not be followed to base or even photographed, but this one seen briefly, and not even near the flightpath the owner has been traced and charge.

You're supposed to think "oh no can't fly at airport now - will get caught"

Different scenarios, different outcomes. Maybe the LHR guy was spotted by a passing airport security/police patrol - seems likely they'd be more proactive than normal given the events at LGW, no? Also LHR did claim to already have at least some anti-drone tech in place after their incident, so maybe it did its job and the supposed sighting there was a false alarm.

I'm leaning towards the former though because a few more details are now available (not a lot of choice on sources though). It was apparently a £160 Tundra model aircraft (1m wingspan, single prop) being flown in a field 500m from the perimeter fence near the Leonardo Hotel, so very likely he was spotted almost immediately. £2,285 in fines and costs and the aircraft destroyed, but avoided a custodial sentence. To make matters worse, the guy is a long-time member of Little Harlington Model Flying Club so has little excuse for not knowing the law. That doesn't really sit well with the BFMA's claims that such club members are responsible pilots with an excellent grasp of flight requirements and safety records in the recent consultation, does it?

 

[colinfowler]

Different scenarios, different outcomes. Maybe the LHR guy was spotted by a passing airport security/police patrol - seems likely they'd be more proactive than normal given the events at LGW, no? Also LHR did claim to already have at least some anti-drone tech in place after their incident, so maybe it did its job and the supposed sighting there was a false alarm.

I'm leaning towards the former though because a few more details are now available (not a lot of choice on sources though). It was apparently a £160 Tundra model aircraft (1m wingspan, single prop) being flown in a field 500m from the perimeter fence near the Leonardo Hotel, so very likely he was spotted almost immediately. £2,285 in fines and costs and the aircraft destroyed, but avoided a custodial sentence. To make matters worse, the guy is a long-time member of Little Harlington Model Flying Club so has little excuse for not knowing the law. That doesn't really sit well with the BFMA's claims that such club members are responsible pilots with an excellent grasp of flight requirements and safety records in the recent consultation, does it?

Harlington Model Flying Club confirmed yesterday that he is not a member.
probably an assumption as he was flying from the field they use

 

[zocalo]

Harlington Model Flying Club confirmed yesterday that he is not a member.
probably an assumption as he was flying from the field they use

Fair enough. Given the choice of Mirror and Sun for the update a degree of caution was obviously required, hence the caveat about sources in my post. The Sun does quote his lawyer for making that claim though, albeit in the past tense, so maybe he's an ex-member or just attended some of their events informally.

I also don't think a club would be flying model aircraft from a field within the NFZ per your assumption, so I think the choice of location here was entirely on Rusu. FWIW, the club's Facebook page implies the club normally operate from a field *just* over 1km from the fence (Little Harlington Playing Fields, near to the M4), so they're probably going to need a new venue with the NFZ extensions, or seek an exemption from LHR.

Either way, more negative media coverage of RC aircraft that we really didn't need right now, and especially if you happen to be a member of the club.

 

[colinfowler]

Fair enough. Given the choice of Mirror and Sun for the update a degree of caution was obviously required, hence the caveat about sources in my post. The Sun does quote his lawyer for making that claim though, albeit in the past tense, so maybe he's an ex-member or just attended some of their events informally.

I also don't think a club would be flying model aircraft from a field within the NFZ per your assumption, so I think the choice of location here was entirely on Rusu. FWIW, the club's Facebook page implies the club normally operate from a field *just* over 1km from the fence (Little Harlington Playing Fields, near to the M4), so they're probably going to need a new venue with the NFZ extensions, or seek an exemption from LHR.

Either way, more negative media coverage of RC aircraft that we really didn't need right now, and especially if you happen to be a member of the club.

the club has been using the playing field for many many years, also used by a model shop nearby for testing and instruction, long before drones.
this field although close has always flown within the field perimeter.
He could have been flying from the field opposite, its directly behind the hotel, if so it could be seen from the main police station for Heathrow and Hillingdon.

 

[zocalo]

the club has been using the playing field for many many years, also used by a model shop nearby for testing and instruction, long before drones.
this field although close has always flown within the field perimeter.
He could have been flying from the field opposite, its directly behind the hotel, if so it could be seen from the main police station for Heathrow and Hillingdon.

I'm pretty sure we're dealing with two different fields. My impression is that Rusu was flying from the field to the South West of the M4 spur, right next to the hotel and within the NFZ, where he was spotted by passing police and promptly arrested. Even if the police hadn't passed by, I doubt he'd have gone unnoticed for long given the surroundings he was flying in.

The club seems to use the fields to the North East of the M4 spur, which is currently (just) outside the NFZ, but will be well within the proposed 5km NFZ discussed in the consultation report. Given that they are well established and the proximity of the model shop I would hope they could get some form of exemption from LHR, maybe with some timing/altitude restrictions, given they are off to the side of the runways, but the proposed third runway might make all that moot for them anyway.

 

[colinfowler]

I'm pretty sure we're dealing with two different fields. My impression is that Rusu was flying from the field to the South West of the M4 spur, right next to the hotel and within the NFZ, where he was spotted by passing police and promptly arrested. Even if the police hadn't passed by, I doubt he'd have gone unnoticed for long given the surroundings he was flying in.

The club seems to use the fields to the North East of the M4 spur, which is currently (just) outside the NFZ, but will be well within the proposed 5km NFZ discussed in the consultation report. Given that they are well established and the proximity of the model shop I would hope they could get some form of exemption from LHR, maybe with some timing/altitude restrictions, given they are off to the side of the runways, but the proposed third runway might make all that moot for them anyway.

Yes the third runway will put paid to that site.
I fly at hanworth flying field and our committee has already had meetings with LHR as the 5k is on our pit line

 

[Sky1]

isn't the Tundra a foam RTF airplane?

 

[colinfowler]

isn't the Tundra a foam RTF airplane?

yes it was a plane