Gatwick airport closed due drone reported in area

AerialPaolo5286 · Dec 21, 2018

Theresa May says police powers may be increased to combat drones.
Sweden election — A nation divided | Financial Times
British Prime Minister Theresa May said police powers governing the flying of drones could be extended after the country's second biggest airport was closed due to unknown operators flying the devices within its airspace

Deleted member 62848 · Dec 21, 2018

This just came in my email,,,says already got some special toys to use

Bad Andy · Dec 21, 2018

Sfgiants24 said:
This is probably the straw that broke the camels back. Sorry guys, game over for the hobby. Hope you all sell your stuff and don’t lose too much money.

Aren't you a ray of sunshine.

skymonkey said:
I disagree, how hard can it be to bring down a drone or even find the drone operator. Knowing what type of drone and the range you can gauge the distance, put people on ground and eyes in the sky and nail this ****wad. What you have to question is the drone hater running this operation.

If it's a professional bird, its range can be miles.

I'm surprised nobody has put another bird in the air and simply followed this one home.

I could see something like this turned into an extortion scheme. I suppose things could get uglier.

GWAYGWAY said:
The wing that they used was a light aircraft one certainly not cabable of those speeds but light construction (22SWG alloy), not the brick outhouses that are commercial jets wings.

That was a Mooney wing in that test. Modern Mooneys are perfectly capable of those speeds and more.

Please review the following thread:
Breaking News: DJI Demands Withdrawal of Drone Crash Video - DRONELIFE

Continue discussing there if you wish.

Just_James · Dec 21, 2018

So.... worldwide media coverage, front page of every UK newspaper, masses and masses of mainstream media (not to mention all the freelance photographers / journalists) with seriously high spec' cameras pointing up at the sky all waiting for the big money shot of this UAV?..... and how many photos or video clips do we see of it?

GWAYGWAY · Dec 21, 2018

Bad Andy said:
Aren't you a ray of sunshine.

If it's a professional bird, its range can be miles.

I'm surprised nobody has put another bird in the air and simply followed this one home.

I could see something like this turned into an extortion scheme. I suppose things could get uglier.

That was a Mooney wing in that test. Modern Mooneys are perfectly capable of those speeds and more.

Please review the following thread:
Breaking News: DJI Demands Withdrawal of Drone Crash Video - DRONELIFE

Continue discussing there if you wish.

Not that one wasn't . A scrapper M10 from the breakers and 50 years old.

3rdof5 · Dec 21, 2018

All cool things for tracking, but the real issue, which has always beem the pilot, is the real problem. Any pilot determined to proceed with criminal activity won't care about any of it in the sense that he/she will take the necessary precautionary measures for this type of flight. AND ANY OF US CAN DO THIS!!!!! This is what scares me the most. Imo there's been 2 main points made clearly from this event.
1. This has clearly shown how "drones" are, and can, be perceived to be exactly what they are, dangerous machines which must be taken seriously by everyone, MOST ESPECIALLY BY THEIR PILOTS.

2. Regardless of the pilot's mental state/disregard and/or disrespect for the public's safety, THERE MUST BE A SYSTEM TO DISABLE DRONES USED IN THIS MANNER.
Just my 2 cents....

skymonkey · Dec 21, 2018

davoud said:
How hard can it be? Three days of airport closure says "pretty hard." How would you track the "operator" if the drone was operating autonomously? If the drone was under human control and had a range of 10 miles the search area would be 315 sq. mi. That includes building interiors, and not just some dude standing in his driveway. Fact is, the Brits are lagging in drone countermeasures.

That said, The Guardian reports that there is a "person of interest."

I agree that the Britts are lagging in drone countermeasures. I also understand that this idiot has to be found. So why not follow the drone back to its home with other drones or just bring it down by any means. This bird in the sky has probably caused millions in lost revenues to the airlines. Now not only are drones going to be hated by the flying public but probably the airline industry as well. They need to bring this bird down ASAP then find a way to locate the operator and let airlines continue to operate unobstructed by our Hobby/Business tools.

skymonkey · Dec 21, 2018

3rdof5 said:
All cool things for tracking, but the real issue, which has always beem the pilot, is the real problem. Any pilot determined to proceed with criminal activity won't care about any of it in the sense that he/she will take the necessary precautionary measures for this type of flight. AND ANY OF US CAN DO THIS!!!!! This is what scares me the most. Imo there's been 2 main points made clearly from this event.
1. This has clearly shown how "drones" are, and can, be perceived to be exactly what they are, dangerous machines which must be taken seriously by everyone, MOST ESPECIALLY BY THEIR PILOTS.

2. Regardless of the pilot's mental state/disregard and/or disrespect for the public's safety, THERE MUST BE A SYSTEM TO DISABLE DRONES USED IN THIS MANNER.
Just my 2 cents....

Maybe something like the OnStar.

With The Birds · Dec 21, 2018

skymonkey said:
Maybe something like the OnStar.

The Onstar what?

skymonkey · Dec 21, 2018

With The Birds said:
The Onstar what?

griffwyn · Dec 21, 2018

Send a cheap drone up and crash into it that should work.

3rdof5 · Dec 21, 2018

griffwyn said:
Send a cheap drone up and crash into it that should work.

If I was there I would have happily stepped up and offered to sacrifice my P3P ( assuming it could catch him) and take him down. This pilot definitely accomplished his goal and kudos for opening everyone's eyes. They NEEDED TO BE OPENED!!! Mine certainly were!

With The Birds · Dec 21, 2018

skymonkey said:
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Useless.... why would someone with the apparent intent of the operator(s) cause or allow for this tech to be installed on the UAV(s) employed in the comduct subject of concern?

GMack · Dec 21, 2018

Now ISIS is threatening drone attacks on USA.

ISIS threatens drone attacks on West.

skymonkey · Dec 21, 2018

With The Birds said:
Useless.... why would someone with the apparent intent of the operator(s) cause or allow for this tech to be installed on the UAV(s) employed in the comduct subject of concern?

Yes, this particular gadget would prove useless for someone with malicious intent. But maybe baking something into the firmware of all drones the will give authorities the power to disable the drone. And even that can be defeated by bad actors but it might work for the idiots. As for the bad actors just have a small army of kamikaze drones at major airports ready to take action at a moments notice.

Offroader · Dec 21, 2018

I'm not going to read all 135+ posts, and forgive me if somebody already said this, but any new laws put in place because of this is no different than other crimes. The criminal doesn't give a crap about laws. Unfortunately, the law abiding hobbyists and commercial sUAS pilots will pay the price. No different than some nut job shooting up a school or someone running into a crowd at a bus stop or detonating a bomb on a busy train.

Ansia · Dec 21, 2018

Offroader said:
I'm not going to read all 135+ posts, and forgive me if somebody already said this, but any new laws put in place because of this is no different than other crimes. The criminal doesn't give a crap about laws. Unfortunately, the law abiding hobbyists and commercial sUAS pilots will pay the price. No different than some nut job shooting up a school or someone running into a crowd at a bus stop or detonating a bomb on a busy train.

Legislation needs to stea... I mean earn their money somehow.