Reagan Airport shut down due to unauthorized drone in the area

[Hermey]

UPDATED: Ground stop at National Airport after report of drone in the area | ARLnow.com

Departures from Reagan National Airport are delayed as a result of a ground stop that comes amid reports of a drone in the area.

www.arlnow.com

And

Report of Drone Stops Flights at Reagan National Airport

Federal officials stopped all arrivals and departures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday after a drone was reported in the area, federal officials say. Takeoffs and landings later resumed but delays will occur, they said. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday...

www.nbcwashington.com

And

Errant drone briefly shuts down D.C. airport

The unknown drone shut down air traffic for about 45 minutes.

www.politico.com

From the latter article:

The context: The United States, for the most part, has avoided prolonged airport shutdowns due to unauthorized drones, but other countries have seen nightmare scenarios. Perhaps the most disruptive was a 2018 incident at London’s Gatwick Airport, where drones near runways forced flights to be grounded for three days as officials searched for the culprits. Some 1,000 flights had to be canceled or diverted and airlines operating at the airport lost millions in the ordeal.

After that incident, U.S. officials began drawing up plans for how to mitigate drone threats at U.S. airports, eventually landing on empowering air marshals to use DOD counterdrone equipment. But years later, those plans are largely still in the formative stages — it wasn’t until March 2021 that the FAA chose five airports to test out counterdrone technology. (Reagan National is not one of them.)

Authority is expiring: Federal law enforcement’s authority to counter malicious drones expires in October, and federal agencies have been asking lawmakers to extend it. DHS acting Assistant Secretary Samantha Vinograd recently told Congress that TSA has reported nearly 2,000 drone sightings near U.S. airports since 2021. Pilots had to take “65 evasive actions” after drones came too close or disturbed aircraft, she said.

 

[Gagey52]

They need to find these idiots and shut the gate on them.
Regards

 

[Hermey]

A thought...I wonder if the nutcases doing this, are anti-drone people, who have the MO that if they create enough such disturbances, they might create the atmosphere needed for the type of crackdown on drones that they long for.....

 

[GFields]

Perhaps @BigAl07 can shed some light on this.

 

[Vic Moss]

I'm very suspicious about the validity of the sighting. There are no details.

D.C. airspace is the most highly monitored and controlled airspace in the country, and quite possibly the world. Where is the actual evidence?

It could have happened, certainly. But if there was evidence of an actual drone, that would have been given to the press by now. Maybe it will come out later?

 

[PHZ]

Hermey sites the alleged drone interference at London Gatwick in 2018. I believe that this was later proven that there was no drone present, but that it may have been a plastic bag. However, we never saw THAT analysis on national network TV.
As Emily Latella once said, “Never mind.”

 

[Hermey]

Hermey sites the alleged drone interference at London Gatwick in 2018. I believe that this was later proven that there was no drone present, but that it may have been a plastic bag. However, we never saw THAT analysis on national network TV.
As Emily Latella once said, “Never mind.”

Ah, the flying plastic bag, that incorrigible mischief-maker!! Yet doesn't make the news, I wonder why....

 

[thispilothere]

A thought...I wonder if the nutcases doing this, are anti-drone people, who have the MO that if they create enough such disturbances, they might create the atmosphere needed for the type of crackdown on drones that they long for.....

Maybe, but they don't need to. Like the Gatwick incident, all they need to do is float a story and get people upset then use the panic as an excuse to do whatever they want.

 

[Mikieh]

If it was a drone it certainly wasn’t a dji one. I know from experience, you can’t get ten feet in the air 5 miles around an airport without authorization. I don’t have any experience with toy drones, but catch that joker if you can, or snag the bag!!

 

[Aus1]

UPDATED: Ground stop at National Airport after report of drone in the area | ARLnow.com

Departures from Reagan National Airport are delayed as a result of a ground stop that comes amid reports of a drone in the area.

www.arlnow.com

And

Report of Drone Stops Flights at Reagan National Airport

Federal officials stopped all arrivals and departures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday after a drone was reported in the area, federal officials say. Takeoffs and landings later resumed but delays will occur, they said. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday...

www.nbcwashington.com

And

Errant drone briefly shuts down D.C. airport

The unknown drone shut down air traffic for about 45 minutes.

www.politico.com

From the latter article:

The context: The United States, for the most part, has avoided prolonged airport shutdowns due to unauthorized drones, but other countries have seen nightmare scenarios. Perhaps the most disruptive was a 2018 incident at London’s Gatwick Airport, where drones near runways forced flights to be grounded for three days as officials searched for the culprits. Some 1,000 flights had to be canceled or diverted and airlines operating at the airport lost millions in the ordeal.

After that incident, U.S. officials began drawing up plans for how to mitigate drone threats at U.S. airports, eventually landing on empowering air marshals to use DOD counterdrone equipment. But years later, those plans are largely still in the formative stages — it wasn’t until March 2021 that the FAA chose five airports to test out counterdrone technology. (Reagan National is not one of them.)

Authority is expiring: Federal law enforcement’s authority to counter malicious drones expires in October, and federal agencies have been asking lawmakers to extend it. DHS acting Assistant Secretary Samantha Vinograd recently told Congress that TSA has reported nearly 2,000 drone sightings near U.S. airports since 2021. Pilots had to take “65 evasive actions” after drones came too close or disturbed aircraft, she said.

Your reference to the Gatwick Airport and a drone being the culprit needs an important update. Investigations found that there never had been a drone there at all. Somebody believed they had seen a drone near the tarmac, and that set of a whole series of over reactions. Somebody else thought they had seen a house where this drone had landed after - but the person living there was some 50km away at that time - did not have a drone, and had never flown one. The outcome was that the Police department was sued, as were a number of newspapers and the owners of the house were forced to sell the house and move away because of death threats. You may wish to do some web searching on that "incident' and you should be able to locate the full report.

 

[Hermey]

Your reference to the Gatwick Airport and a drone being the culprit needs an important update. Investigations found that there never had been a drone there at all. Somebody believed they had seen a drone near the tarmac, and that set of a whole series of over reactions. Somebody else thought they had seen a house where this drone had landed after - but the person living there was some 50km away at that time - did not have a drone, and had never flown one. The outcome was that the Police department was sued, as were a number of newspapers and the owners of the house were forced to sell the house and move away because of death threats. You may wish to do some web searching on that "incident' and you should be able to locate the full report.

Wow!! That is very scary...in terms of the horrendous impact upon a totally innocent person!!

 

[BigAl07]

If it was a drone it certainly wasn’t a dji one. I know from experience, you can’t get ten feet in the air 5 miles around an airport without authorization. I don’t have any experience with toy drones, but catch that joker if you can, or snag the bag!!

A) It doesn't matter if it was DJI or not. We are ALL lumped into the same basket as UAS Operators. One bad apple can spoil the whole basket.

B) Of course a DJI can be launched and flown 10' or MORE at any distance from any airport. I've got a couple that will launch FROM airport property. In fact, if I needed to, (And I don't) I could be in the top of the ATC tower and launch it and fly there. Just because there are FACTORY settings limiting some DJI drone's from powering up in Restricted Airspace doesn't mean all of them are that way. Remember, where there is a will (good will or bad will) there is a way.

C) The old 5 miles from an airport thing has been gone for a long long time. That's a totally irrelative term now was replaced (in ~2015 or 2016) with Airspace requirements that have no standard airport distance setbacks. It's important to be accurate when you're discussing regulations and Aviation Safety as a whole. The details really are important.

 

[BigAl07]

Hermey sites the alleged drone interference at London Gatwick in 2018. I believe that this was later proven that there was no drone present, but that it may have been a plastic bag. However, we never saw THAT analysis on national network TV.
As Emily Latella once said, “Never mind.”

Unless I'm totally wrong here, you're mixing (or someone you're referencing from is) two different incidents. There was an incident (I think it was here in the USA) where a drone was indeed reported but was quickly confirmed it was a plastic shopping bag carried high on the winds. I've seen several people say things like "Hey maybe Gatwick was also a shopping bag incident" but I don't recall any type of proof it was a mere shopping bag flying through the air.

If I'm wrong I will accept that but provide the articles to support it.

With the BUZZ word being DRONE, almost every single UFO in the last few years was reported as a DRONE simply because the media has PROGRAMMED everyone to think, see, and say DRONE for any aerial object they don't fully recognize. It's a shame but it's the Media Buzz we're stuck with going forward.

 

[Mikieh]

A) It doesn't matter if it was DJI or not. We are ALL lumped into the same basket as UAS Operators. One bad apple can spoil the whole basket.

B) Of course a DJI can be launched and flown 10' or MORE at any distance from any airport. I've got a couple that will launch FROM airport property. In fact, if I needed to, (And I don't) I could be in the top of the ATC tower and launch it and fly there. Just because there are FACTORY settings limiting some DJI drone's from powering up in Restricted Airspace doesn't mean all of them are that way. Remember, where there is a will (good will or bad will) there is a way.

C) The old 5 miles from an airport thing has been gone for a long long time. That's a totally irrelative term now was replaced (in ~2015 or 2016) with Airspace requirements that have no standard airport distance setbacks. It's important to be accurate when you're discussing regulations and Aviation Safety as a whole. The details really are important.

I can tell you from experience my Phantom 4 Pro which I don’t consider a toy drone would not fly for me within 5 miles of my local airport, even though B4UFLY told me everything was a-ok to lift off. Tell me how you worked with yours without authorization.

 

[BigAl07]

I can tell you from experience my Phantom 4 Pro which I don’t consider a toy drone would not fly for me within 5 miles of my local airport, even though B4UFLY told me everything was a-ok to lift off. Tell me how you worked with yours without authorization.

I never said I didn't have Authorizations.. .that's a whole other animal and I have NEVER flown in Controlled Airspace without one. I just happen to have DJI Aircraft that are not locked down by DJI.

The point of my comment was that a) not every UAS is a DJI brand and b) even DJI have work arounds where you can fly in Controlled/Restricted Environments. Think BIG picture and not just DJI Mavics

 

[lookout]

They need to find these idiots and shut the gate on them.
Regards

Maybe the last paragraph on the OPs post explains it all.

 

[Mikieh]

I get it. I’m talking off the shelf models. They will stop you and not always with just cause according to the B4UFLY app which I went by before taking the job. I think I could have gotten into the air if I dug into it, but wasn’t prepped enough for the job.

 

[Kywon McCain]

People like these make us look bad