Gatwick airport closed due drone reported in area

[landmannnn]

It sounds like the police aren't trying to bring the drones down.
Their concern being who knows how many more drones he has and what he intends to do with them.

 

[coco777]

They need the Sweeney Todd

 

[rangioran]

this is the latest statement from the Pilots - get ready for a Government 'knee jerk' reaction any time now :-(

Pilots' association: 'The new laws don't go far enough'
Brian Strutton, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) told the BBC:
"We have been working closely with the Department for Transport on these issues, and we were pleased to see new drone laws put in place earlier this year, but we said they do not go far enough. The Government was clear to BALPA that they were open to extending the 1km exclusion zone, and it is now obvious that must happen urgently. BALPA is calling for a 5km exclusion zone.
"This incident also reinforces the need for registration of drones and licensing of operators so that the police can track and trace drones which are being flown dangerously or irresponsibly and for the industry to invest in technology which can detect drones and stop them from being flown near airports and aircraft."

 

[jpbroomfield]

Just heard the police have called in the military...... for **** sake.

 

[WV. Rootman]

They have the technology to keep drones out of the area or bring them down. It's hard to understand why they haven't found these idiots.
They should get with the Dutch. They have trained eagles to fetch drones. Lol

 

[dronesky]

They need to be made an example of

 

[Timinator]

This is embarrassing for the UK. I'm sorry, but allowing this to occur for almost a full day? Reminds me of when Mathias Rust flew the Cessna all the way from Finland I think before landing it in Red Square, Moscow without any of the Soviet Air Defenses picking it up. That embarrassed the **** out of the Sovs and they made changes after that.

Come on. Run your show Britain!

 

[3rdof5]

The sad thing about all this is it can never be solved outright. They can change flight restrictions, enforce licensing of the pilots and registering the drones, they can even go so far as mandating transponders on drones. The fact is, there will always be someone building their own AC with no restrictions, transponders, GEO fencing, etc, etc, and they will fly wherever they want and cause trouble just for the sake of being able to do it. I really don't know what the solution is to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. A home built drone could be operating on any number of frequencies so even trying to track the RC signal to its source to catch the idiot is sketchy at best. Its a very sad day for our hobby, I'm furious this is happening and my heart goes out to all the UK travellers who are having their holiday ruined. There will be repercussions from this and they won't be good for any of us.

 

[rangioran]

'Formal request to the MoD for military assistance'
Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent
Police have made a formal request to the MoD for military assistance to deal with the Gatwick incident .
A defence source would not go into any detail of what that support would entail

Armed forces 'always' ready to help, says defence secretary
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has said the armed forces are "always" ready to help the police and will do everything they can to ensure Gatwick opens again as soon as possible.
"Sussex Police have requested assistance and support from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help that they need to be able to deal with the situation of the drones at Gatwick Airport," Mr Williamson said.
"It goes to demonstrate how our armed forces are always there ready to support the civilian authorities."
When asked how the armed forces would assist, Mr Williamson responded: "Sadly at this moment it's not something we can actually reveal but the armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something we would usually deploy but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity."

 

[UAS0750]

Drone sighting at Gatwick halts flights

It makes me furious that some unthinking people around the world will fly their drones in such dangerous, clearly restricted, areas. These ********* put all of us drone pilots, and the entire drone sUAS industry, in a bad light. And are the cause of growing, unneeded, restrictions. In America, the FAA regulations are very clear, only restricting where necessary for safety, and are an excellent balance between freedom and sUAS Drone flights. I hope regulators can understand this also, and come down hard on drone operators who violate regs, instead of further restricting freedom to fly and innovate. Flying is what brings innovation. We need that freedom to fly. Innovation and the potential uses of sUAS Drones are still in infancy. We yet have no idea how useful they may turn out to be. Besides, within the affordable costs of sUAS Drones, design development is already very near that at which they can accomplish MOST missions the $14 Million big government Drones can do. Affordability for small organizations is the key to optimal future applications.

 

[Timinator]

The sad thing about all this is it can never be solved outright. They can change flight restrictions, enforce licensing of the pilots and registering the drones, they can even go so far as mandating transponders on drones. The fact is, there will always be someone building their own AC with no restrictions, transponders, GEO fencing, etc, etc, and they will fly wherever they want and cause trouble just for the sake of being able to do it. I really don't know what the solution is to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. A home built drone could be operating on any number of frequencies so even trying to track the RC signal to its source to catch the idiot is sketchy at best. Its a very sad day for our hobby, I'm furious this is happening and my heart goes out to all the UK travellers who are having their holiday ruined. There will be repercussions from this and they won't be good for any of us.

This isn't a legislative or technological problem, this is a response problem, by LGW, by the Police, by many public service agencies.

 

[Timinator]

It makes me furious that some unthinking people around the world will fly their drones in such dangerous, clearly restricted, areas. These jackasses put all of us drone pilots, and the entire drone sUAS industry, in a bad light. And are the cause of growing, unneeded, restrictions. In America, the FAA regulations are very clear, only restricting where necessary for safety, and are an excellent balance between freedom and sUAS Drone flights. I hope regulators can understand this also, and come down hard on drone operators who violate regs, instead of further restricting freedom to fly and innovate. Flying is what brings innovation. We need that freedom to fly. Innovation and the potential uses of sUAS Drones are still in infancy. We yet have no idea how useful they may turn out to be. Besides, within the affordable costs of sUAS Drones, design development is already very near that at which they can accomplish MOST missions the $14 Million big government Drones can do. Affordability for small organizations is the key to optimal future applications.

The problem is that this wasn't done by some unthinking individual. This was a conscious decision, for motives unclear, to cause disruption.

 

[3rdof5]

The problem is that this wasn't done by some unthinking individual. This was a conscious decision, for motives unclear, to cause disruption.

Agreed completely, as I pointed out, new legislation or tech changes will do nothing to prevent someone from doing exactly this. I hope the powers that be also see this and take the proper steps to find ways of dealing with circumstances like this rather than crippling the entire hobby even more than it already is.

 

[landmannnn]

This isn't a legislative or technological problem, this is a response problem, by LGW, by the Police, by many public service agencies.

I am not sure it is that simple.

Somebody has flown a drone over the fence, then flown it away. From the lack of video or photographs, probably only for a matter of seconds. Then a few hours later it was repeated.

Apart from stationing officers with shotguns around the perimeter (which they did), and bringing in helicopters (which they did) what other response could be made?

 

[rangioran]

An excellent point raised by drone pilot David Walker -

What are the implications for the laws on drones?

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
Drone pilot David Walker has contacted the BBC to highlight what he sees as the problem with drone training in the UK.

Quote Message: The industry doesn't help itself as the cost for flying courses and certification can be as much as £1,000 for just three days training. Anyone who gets a £50 quad is not going to want to pay £1,000 to fly it." from David Walker Drone pilot​

The industry doesn't help itself as the cost for flying courses and certification can be as much as £1,000 for just three days training. Anyone who gets a £50 quad is not going to want to pay £1,000 to fly it."​

David WalkerDrone pilot​

 

[Henry Matias]

It sounds like the police aren't trying to bring the drones down.
Their concern being who knows how many more drones he has and what he intends to do with them.

I think it’s all a conspiracy to kill the hobby so that they can safely open the airspace for commercial use for Home deliveries via Drones. Corporate greed by businesses like Amazon.

 

[N017RW]

I think it’s all a conspiracy to kill the hobby so that they can safely open the airspace for commercial use for Home deliveries via Drones. Corporate greed by businesses like Amazon.

Lol

 

[Belichic's Haberdasher]

Rather than stopping flights why not use a shot-gun to bring them down?

That was considered, but rejected because of the danger from the stray bullets.

 

[sar104]

Lol

I've never understood the allure of conspiracy theories - they are generally completely devoid of logic. It's depressing that people actually believe this kind of nonsense.

 

[WV. Rootman]

That was considered, but rejected because of the danger from the stray bullets.

Shot does little to no harm after it goes past it's target when shooting upward.