Some irresponsible drone owners

[RonanCork]

Hey Guys,

I'm from Cork Ireland - been on this forum a while - love it !

Just saw this online now (Flights suspended at Dublin Airport after confirmed sighting of drone) about a drone that has caused all flights at Dublin airport to be grounded.

Isn't it a real pain that a small few people who are irresponsible and ruining it for us all. When things like this happen (as it happened in Gatwick Airport in the UK recently and caused millions not to mention untold misery for passengers) - it'll only mean that there will be more regulations for us and might not be as easy to fly in some places.

I'm all for flying safely but it really bugs me when a small few tar us with this brush and run it for those who are responsible.

My two-pence!

Thanks Ronan.

 

[sadatoni]

Was it really a drone? Pilots have been reporting strange things in the sky near airports for decades. The article is lacking details.

 

[Prmath]

Seriously...... I would LOVE to “reach out and touch someone” that would do such a haphazard thing, Especially in the vicinity of an airport.

 

[dirkclod]

Seriously I would too but would also like to see some proof . Seems to be the new thing as they are
always bringing up Gatwick . Have a delay...blame it on a drone.
Not saying it wasn't one but just saying.

 

[Starz]

Hey Guys,

I'm from Cork Ireland - been on this forum a while - love it !

Just saw this online now (Flights suspended at Dublin Airport after confirmed sighting of drone) about a drone that has caused all flights at Dublin airport to be grounded.

Isn't it a real pain that a small few people who are irresponsible and ruining it for us all. When things like this happen (as it happened in Gatwick Airport in the UK recently and caused millions not to mention untold misery for passengers) - it'll only mean that there will be more regulations for us and might not be as easy to fly in some places.

I'm all for flying safely but it really bugs me when a small few tar us with this brush and run it for those who are responsible.

My two-pence!

Thanks Ronan.

Interesting that with all the picture taking abilities that a lot of people have, including pilots, we have yet to see a viable picture of one of these
“drones” in an actual conflict. Sorry, I need (just a little would work) proof.

 

[RonanCork]

Good points guys!

Ronan

 

[Vegasdad]

The last two times flying Ive watched other pilots doing crazy stuff like flying over 800’ up where there are tourist helicopters and yesterday some guys being irresponsible.

 

[bliksem]

Note to self: avoid flights to Gatwick, and erm Dublin.
There will always be that one guy who screws up things for the group, no matter what hobby/sport.

 

[m chaussettes]

Below is a link to a video I made a few minutes ago of the traffic at Dublin (DUB) at the time of the drone incident.
Starting at 12:00 ATC stopped allowing planes to depart but they allowed quite a few to land. At 12:30 everything
was back to normal The video is sped up 12X. It doesn't seem like there were too many people or planes inconvenienced.

 

[Prmath]

The last two times flying Ive watched other pilots doing crazy stuff like flying over 800’ up where there are tourist helicopters and yesterday some guys being irresponsible.

Makes me want to buy and install a VapoLaser..........
One shot fix

 

[RonanCork]

Cool video!

Ronan

 

[Mr. Salty]

Interesting that with all the picture taking abilities that a lot of people have, including pilots, we have yet to see a viable picture of one of these
“drones” in an actual conflict.

Pilots are probably a little too busy around a commercial airport to stop what they're doing to whip out their cellphones and take a picture, don't you think?

 

[m chaussettes]

Pilots are probably a little too busy around a commercial airport to stop what they're doing to whip out their cellphones and take a picture, don't you think?

Below 10,000 ft the cockpit becomes a sterile environment. No talking about anything unrelated to the landing. I am really surprised that at that critical phase of a flight that they are even able to pay attention to a drone if it was there. Blaming drones does cover a lot of screw-ups at the airport. I understand why pilots are freaked out by having to share the airspace with unlicensed operators. A Mavic Pro in a jet engine will cause severe problems. A drone striking the windscreen of a light single will shatter it and possibly incapacitate the pilot. I used to carry goggles in my flight bag against the day I had a bird strike. There is a video on YouTube of a Cessna 172 flying along the Jersey shoreline, everything fine and then it's going down in the water and killing the pilot. The video shows a standard issue small bird hitting the windscreen seconds before the plane dives. A small drone that weighs 10 or 20 times more than a small bird is certainly going to ruin someone's day.

I think we are moving towards the day when everyone is going to have to be licensed. I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing and it will certainly put a dent in some idiots plans when they are looking at a felony and $50,000 fine. This is serious business and if requiring learning how to read a VFR sectional and understanding what is and is not the correct operating procedure as a prerequisite to buying a drone, I am for it.

 

[Harro]

Reading the forum, I notice that relatively frequently there are posts bragging how high, how fast or how far they went. For what purpose? Bragging and making a nuisance of themselves is all I can see. Feel free to comment and explain, I may be missing some important point.

 

[Irely]

Love this forum but it amazes me the attitude of many when it comes to law enforcement officers. Having just retired from serving 41 yrs with Police in Australia I can assure all that Police have better things to do than generate hysteria about drones causing issues if that were not the case. To all those naive people out there, start accepting the fact that the world population includes many jerks, drone operators included, who do the wrong thing and give the rest of us drone operators a bad name. Probably time you got over your conspiracy theories!

 

[ac0j]

Let us not forget, They suspend operations at an airport because of a drone sighting? why?
There is NO PROOF that a drone is going to cause a crash, any more than hitting a pigeon.

The best case study they have is a controlled. targeted, specific, worst case scenario test on a light weight Moonie wing. And the results were,
"not as much damage as a bird of SIMILAR SIZE would do to the sheet metal" and a token mention of structural damage, that was NEVER pictured or elaborated on in any way. Bottom line, the "Moonie" would have landed safely. A Commercial aircraft has about 1000 times more structural integrity than a Moonie. What is the problem really?

 

[CanadaDrone]

Has anyone actually ever seen a photo of a drone at an airport with all these alleged "sightings"? Pretty amazing that this day and age with everyone having a smartphone and plane-watchers everywhere with high-end photography equipment and long focal length lenses, nobody has managed a photo of a drone disrupting an airport yet. To be clear, I am not denying that it happened/happens, and I am sure a drone could do potentially catastrophic damage to an aircraft, but I think if you're going to shut down an airport you may want more than the word of someone who thinks they might have seen something that might have been a drone. It felt like every other day I was reading about another disruption at Gatwick, but not one single picture surfaced of these drones that were apparently all over the place.

On a similar note, given the disruption that a drone can apparently cause by flying near an airport, I'm honestly surprised more people (terrorists and the like) aren't doing just that to cost the city/country millions of dollars by shutting down major airports. Seems like it would almost be too easy. If nothing else, these events have probably provided a nice boost to the anti-drone tech industry.

 

[Hardgainer]

Sadly you will never lose the brain dead they will always be with us.

 

[M_thoroughbred]

While I can’t say if what the pilot saw was a drone nor can I say that what he witnessed was made up. But for all that say we need more proof (pictures, video etc.) well I have news for you. They don’t need to show us anything. All they need is to create more fear so stricter regulations would be made and passed. Soon owning a drone is gonna be like owning a car. License, registration, proof of insurance.

 

[ac0j]

To be clear, I am not denying that it happened/happens, and I am sure a drone could do potentially catastrophic damage to an aircraft,

in that line of thought, a well placed golf ball could too.
We are talking about a pound or two, of plastic, four SMALL metal motors, and a basically compressible battery pack. I don't know If I want to fly in any aircraft that couldn't chew that up and spit it out. Maybe they need to just make aircraft tougher, then there would be NO THREAT from ANY small airborne crafts or creatures in the vicinity.