Drone disruption at LGW

[EddieB]

Absolutely strange goings on, that a major international airport can be shut down for approaching 24 hours because of drone activity near the runway. Obviously safety is paramount, and one has sympathy for airport authorities, airlines and of course the passengers, who can do little to alleviate the problem.

 

It seems surprising that there is no weaponry available to target such incursions, or to locate the source of signals to control the drone(s).

 

At present there doesn’t appear to be any intelligence on whether this is a co-ordinated attack, or simply the efforts of a small bunch of nuisance-makers.

 

Very strange.

[bimble]

if it's flying a pre-programmed route there would be no signals to block/trace... and it's a big perimiter for people to stand about with what... shotguns to shoot it down...

[jjb1970]

If they do catch the perps they'll probably get a slap on the wrist, or they'll claim to only be doing it to save the world and become heroes to some. Not that I'm a cynic or anything.

[Wild Boar Fell]

Anyone got a spare Class 800? Understand they're pretty handy with electronics...

[Guest]

If they do catch the perps they'll probably get a slap on the wrist, or they'll claim to only be doing it to save the world and become heroes to some. Not that I'm a cynic or anything.

 

I'm hoping prison time and liability for everyone's costs.

['CHARD]

Really?

 

[Jack P]

..and it's a big perimiter for people to stand about with what... shotguns to shoot it down...

 

Imagine landing and seeing a 50 lanky teens on the perimiter of the runway with guns.. 

[kevinlms]

I'm hoping prison time and liability for everyone's costs.

Hopefully it will be treated at least the same as those comedians, who 'joke' about being terrorists or state to airline staff, that they have a bomb in their luggage.

A lifetime ban from any airport or aircraft, AFTER they get out of jail, would seem to be a good starting point.

[cornelius]

Due to fly LGW to Stockholm tomorrow for Christmas 

[PatB]

I have heard rumours that Australian wedgetailed eagles can be trained to hunt and catch drones.

 

Alternatively, there's this https://twitter.com/MarieAnnUK/status/1075792912422789121?s=09

[Oldddudders]

Chris Grayling was on tv earlier saying the drone is a metal commercial product, not the usual plastic toy.

 

I fear for every teenager with skool hols and his drone targeting other airports etc. Copycatism is always alive and well after any such event gets media coverage.

[Legend]

I’d throw the book at this guy or guys . Max prison sentence and some way to sequester assets to pay for disruption . How low do you need to sink to disrupt Christmas for 1000s of people . A warped mind.

 

However, in the long term , it has probably done us a favour by highlighting vulnerability to drones . Looks like currently we have no defence against them, or if we do, we haven’t spent the money installing them . So it’s a wake up call . Not just airports of course but public buildings and events. You don’t want to predict gloom, but just supposing these drones. Had some sort of destructive device aboard?

[Robert Shrives]

Well tech does exist for tracking and recovery with out fall back to hot lead. But as said good wakeup call. However it makes a good diversion story - would love to be alive in 30 years time to see  released papers explaining what really happened. - A loose SAM ?

 

Robert  

[Dunsignalling]

If, as the Army are said to think, it's too dangerous to despatch these devices using gunfire, some sort of miniaturised surface-air guided missile would seem to offer a solution. All the more effective if the target is made from metal.

 

If any of these drones have been "captured", it will be interesting to discover where they were made....

 

 

John

Edited December 21, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[Ron Ron Ron]

If they do catch the perps they'll probably get a slap on the wrist, or they'll claim to only be doing it to save the world and become heroes to some. Not that I'm a cynic or anything.

The penalty is up to 5 years in prison, but if sufficient charges can be brought, it could be a life sentence.

 

 

Ron

[Dunsignalling]

The penalty is up to 5 years in prison, but if sufficient charges can be brought, it could be a life sentence.

 

 

Ron

Should be one day, multiplied by the number of people whose journeys were disrupted.

 

If you calculate the cumulative effect of stealing a day or two from a huge number of individuals' lives, yesterday's stunt was equivalent to several murders.

 

John

Edited December 21, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[Ohmisterporter]

Should be one day, multiplied by the number of people whose journeys were disrupted.

 

John

 

But not to run concurrently. 

[APOLLO]

If, as the Army are said to think, it's too dangerous to despatch these devices using gunfire, some sort of miniaturised surface-air guided missile would seem to offer a solution. All the more effective if the target is made from metal.

 

If any of these drones have been "captured", it will be interesting to discover where they were made....

 

 

John

 

Made in China like everything else today !!!!

 

If the authorities think it's too dangerous to shoot down a drone because of stray bullets etc then what about the police armed with automatic weapons always at the ready prominently seen at all airports ?. God forbid there ever having to be used, but they are surrounded by people in busy terminals, if an "incident" forces weapon discharge then injury or worse of innocent victims is more or less a certainty. Shooting down a drone by expert marksmen around an airport perimeter with no planes flying has far, far less risk.

 

To me there is more than meets the eye to this incident, far more.

 

Brit15

[gismorail]

I really can't believe its an amateur type of Drone like something you would buy from and commercial supplier as surely these would be picked up by monitoring equipment ( I'm presuming that a large airport would have that sort of thing in place) It was stated on the TV yesterday that there are devises that can disable drones from entering protected flight zones but it would appear that Gatwick do not have this tech in place. 

[Fenman]

If they do catch the perps they'll probably get a slap on the wrist, or they'll claim to only be doing it to save the world and become heroes to some. Not that I'm a cynic or anything.

 

No idea who was behind this, but given the STN group who were protesting against forced repatriations by chaining themselves to an aircraft were last week found guilty of "terrorism" (with a potential life sentence), it seems to me more likely that, say, a climate change protestor would choose a drone attack as a much lower-risk way of getting their point across (this is in no way to condone their actions; merely to suggest that the state's - in my view - over-aggressive response to political protest may have had unforeseen consequences). 

 

...

However, in the long term , it has probably done us a favour by highlighting vulnerability to drones .

...

 

Yes, I'd very much agree with that. Far better this current idiocy than some madman seeking to down aircraft (commercial drones weigh as much or more than the geese that brough down the Hudson River airliner).

 

...

If the authorities think it's too dangerous to shoot down a drone because of stray bullets etc then what about the police armed with automatic weapons always at the ready prominently seen at all airports ?. God forbid there ever having to be used, but they are surrounded by people in busy terminals, if an "incident" forces weapon discharge then injury or worse of innocent victims is more or less a certainty. Shooting down a drone by expert marksmen around an airport perimeter with no planes flying has far, far less risk.

...

 

I always feel profoundly uncomfortable in UK airports and railway stations seeing police armed with what look, to my untrained eye, like machine guns (no idea what the correct technical term is - I have little interest in weapons). Quite how they think they can use those in a confined space full of innocent people is beyond me. Far from making me feel safer, they make me feel anxious.

 

My thoughts are with all the poor sods affected by this unpleasantness: it must be terrifically stressful, especially if you have small children.

 

Paul

[chris p bacon]

I really can't believe its an amateur type of Drone

 

 

We went to watch rally in Spain a while ago, the film company were using a drone which didn't look that big but was a 2 man lift and had a lot of camera equipment and batteries on it so was very weighty,  The downdraught was felt quite a distance away so these things produce a lot of power and are not something a large commercial jet would want to come into contact with.

I'd guess that with a contact speed of 250mph+ it could easily puncture a wing/cabin or destroy an engine.

[chris p bacon]

I always feel profoundly uncomfortable in UK airports and railway stations seeing police armed with what look, to my untrained eye, like machine guns (no idea what the correct technical term is - I have little interest in weapons). Quite how they think they can use those in a confined space full of innocent people is beyond me. Far from making me feel safer, they make me feel anxious.

 

I used to feel this way until I worked at Heathrow, I realised that in a confined space packed with people, someone armed with a weapon intent on doing harm could do far worse.

 

I think of them as a necessary evil.

[Joseph_Pestell]

We went to watch rally in Spain a while ago, the film company were using a drone which didn't look that big but was a 2 man lift and had a lot of camera equipment and batteries on it so was very weighty,  The downdraught was felt quite a distance away so these things produce a lot of power and are not something a large commercial jet would want to come into contact with.

I'd guess that with a contact speed of 250mph+ it could easily puncture a wing/cabin or destroy an engine.

 

Even a small drone will puncture a wing and would no doubt make a serious mess of a jet turbine.

[TomE]

I’d throw the book at this guy or guys . Max prison sentence and some way to sequester assets to pay for disruption . How low do you need to sink to disrupt Christmas for 1000s of people . A warped mind.

 

However, in the long term , it has probably done us a favour by highlighting vulnerability to drones . Looks like currently we have no defence against them, or if we do, we haven’t spent the money installing them . So it’s a wake up call . Not just airports of course but public buildings and events. You don’t want to predict gloom, but just supposing these drones. Had some sort of destructive device aboard?

 

Speaking as someone who both owns drones and works in the civil aviation industry, the potential threats posed by these devices has been a topic of discussion for some time. Unfortunately the authorities and airport operators have simply been too slow in responding to a rapidly emerging and easily obtainable technology. 

 

An event such as this has been an inevitability for a long time and frankly i'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner, but there is a risk is that we now get over regulation as a result of the high level of disruption it has caused. BALPA are one of the most ruthlessly efficient and effective unions in existence and they will be throwing everything they have into further restricting drone use following this. The UAV industry is expected to be worth around £45 billion to the UK economy within the next 10 years so there really is a need for a considered and rational response, not the usual knee jerk overreaction. 

 

Earlier this year it was made illegal to operate a drone within 1km of an airport boundary and over 400ft above ground level. Sometime during next year drone owners will have to register devices over a certain weight and take an online test. Those who want to use them commercially already have to take a course and test costing around £1.5k in order to get a licence to do so. Unfortunately non of this can stop someone ordering components from the internet and building their own device which is completely untraceable. No amount of legislation will stop those with nefarious intent from obtaining and using unregistered drones.

 

The best possible outcome from this event is that airports invest in the technology to bring down drones operating within 1km of their boundary. There are plenty of off the shelf anti-drone systems available, but again legislation has been too slow to allow for their use. The perpetrator also needs to be found, and punished to the maximum extent of the law as an example to others. 

 

Sadly this one single event will likely cause huge backlash against drone users who remain within the law and who make a point of operating responsibly. 

 

Tom.  

Edited December 23, 2018 by TomE

[hayfield]

My daughter is a CAA qualified drone pilot, the drone she flies takes 2 people by law to operate, one to fly it and one to operate the camera. Also lots of rules on what can and cannot be done and what preparation must happen prior to flights

 

I assume most of the owners are not qualified and do not know the regulations. Those carrying out this action I guess are either the equivalent of joy riders in the drone world or activists, either way have no regard to the rules

Edited December 21, 2018 by hayfield