Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airline

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Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

That is absolute nonsense. If you could deliberately hit an object ripping through the air at 250-300km/h (standard landing speed) with a 1500g quad travelling ~40km/h through FPV, than you deserve a medal.
Come on journalists, you can do better than that.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

Fyod said:
That is absolute nonsense. If you could deliberately hit an object ripping through the air at 250-300km/h (standard landing speed)

The approach speed of the Aerospatiale ATR-72 is 160 Knots (184 MPH). But it would be nearly impossible for a pilot on approach to be able to see something as small as a drone passing off the wingtip, let alone get an accurate position and distance. I wonder if the raw radar can see a Phantom sized drone since it can see large birds such as Geese.

I've flown past toy balloons on approach (70 knots in my Cessna) and you would be lucky if you could see it long enough to even tell what color it is.

Aerospatiale ATR-72 Operating Manual from Delta Airlines:
http://www.deltava.org/library/ATR-72 Manual.pdf
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

Feels like our days are numbered in the UK.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

The future of our hobby lies in the hands of the lowest common denominator among us. Let's enjoy our phantoms while we can.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

There really is a good case building to ban toy helicopters outright.

But only the good guys would comply. I wonder what the answer is.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

My Vision Plus has all airports in the US programmed into it along with the radius of no-fly zones. Maybe this needs to become mandatory to avoid this issue. Just a thought.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

jlgrant50 said:
My Vision Plus has all airports in the US programmed into it along with the radius of no-fly zones. Maybe this needs to become mandatory to avoid this issue. Just a thought.

The airport involved here is a Cat B no fly in the Naza. But this only works a) if the newest firmware is installed b) craft is flown in GPS mode.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

jlgrant50 said:
My Vision Plus has all airports in the US programmed into it along with the radius of no-fly zones.

No ... if you believe your Vision Plus has all airports in the US programmed into it, you are mistaken.
There are plenty of airports all over the world (US included) that are not in the DJI airport listings.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

I checked out your pictures. WOW!!! Nice job. What was your altitude for the peninsula shots?
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

Mr. Mann kind sir, I can say from personal experience how wrong you are on what a pilot can see at a distance.
I was standing on a 100 foot tall radio tower when a 747flew directly over head. I could clearly see his face and even his tie!
If I could see him, could he not see me? I believe he did.
On the same tower, on another day, I could see our local fire department's hook and ladder truck was fully raised at a shopping center well over a mile away. I noticed there was someone in the bucket. So I waved and he waved back.

As there is evidence on youtube that pilots can see quads for a distance, it would not be unreasonable for a pilot to see one within a 100 feet of him.
 
I live very close to (London)Southend Airport and only this Friday just received my newly purchased used V+. Read this reported incident online Sunday, and wasn't overly surprised at this due to the local remote flying club being located directly within the illustrated "glide path"

http://www.srcfc.co.uk/where-we-are/

Since the recent expansion of this airport I was surprised that the location of the club has not been required to change!? It has been there since as long as I can remember, as has the airport.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

I think you have to accept people at their word unless you have reason not too. I'm unsure of any evidence that exists that shows this story is a lie or that would question the word of the pilots.

If you read the transcripts the control tower does seem to "lead" the pilot to the conclusion that he encountered a drone, but the color of the object and the reference to the engine doesn't fit any Phantom I've ever seen.

Perhaps it's not all a lie, but maybe a mistake? I guess time will tell.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

I'd be very surprised if this was an intentional fabrication. However, I do strongly believe whatever they saw was not what they concluded it to be. Pilots are typically very busy on approach. There's not a lot of time to stare out the window. And they're moving at a very high rate of speed.

For a Phantom to be anything other than a blur passing by in a fraction of a second, it would have to be a reasonable distance away. And I think we all now how small our Phantoms get when they're only a couple hundred meters away. It's highly unlikely they could ID a quadcopter under such conditions.

So, I call BS on this not because the pilots are lying but because they're wrong. It's very similar to the report from the NYPD helicopter of a Phantom moving at impossible speeds. They didn't lie either. They just misjudged the distance, size and speed. Easily done when you're busy doing something else and you're moving as well.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

Suwaneeguy said:
Mr. Mann kind sir, I can say from personal experience how wrong you are on what a pilot can see at a distance.

A quarter-century as a commercial pilot should give me a bit of experience. At approach speeds and as busy as an approach can get, I only have time to look for traffic that ATC has called out to me. As I said earlier, when we fly past a toy balloon 100ft away, we have maybe a fraction of a second to ID it as a balloon. There's no way that a pilot could reliably ID a drone near the A/C.

FWIW, we've hit birds that were bigger and heavier that the Phantom, usually there's just a smudge on the wing or tail. I've only flown prop A/C commercially, so I can't speak to turbines, but to become certified a jet engine has to survive a large bird carcass . A cannon uses compressed air to shoot chicken carcasses into the turbine at 180 mph. This is the approximate speed a plane would be traveling if it encountered a bird during takeoff or landing, when most such incidents occur. If the turbine disintegrates, or if the engine can't be operated safely for another twenty minutes after impact, the design fails the test.

A Phantom in the air intake may shut down an engine, prompting a landing, but it would be virtually impossible to make the plane crash.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

SteveMann said:
Suwaneeguy said:
Mr. Mann kind sir, I can say from personal experience how wrong you are on what a pilot can see at a distance.

A quarter-century as a commercial pilot should give me a bit of experience. At approach speeds and as busy as an approach can get, I only have time to look for traffic that ATC has called out to me. As I said earlier, when we fly past a toy balloon 100ft away, we have maybe a fraction of a second to ID it as a balloon. There's no way that a pilot could reliably ID a drone near the A/C.

FWIW, we've hit birds that were bigger and heavier that the Phantom, usually there's just a smudge on the wing or tail. I've only flown prop A/C commercially, so I can't speak to turbines, but to become certified a jet engine has to survive a large bird carcass . A cannon uses compressed air to shoot chicken carcasses into the turbine at 180 mph. This is the approximate speed a plane would be traveling if it encountered a bird during takeoff or landing, when most such incidents occur. If the turbine disintegrates, or if the engine can't be operated safely for another twenty minutes after impact, the design fails the test.

A Phantom in the air intake may shut down an engine, prompting a landing, but it would be virtually impossible to make the plane crash.

What if it had plastic explosives on it? :D
I have wondered to myself if someone wanted to take out someone important,like the president if they could do that very thing.I dont know for sure but I think the prez sometimes leaves the wh in a helicopter,get a few phantoms,load them up and fly towards it
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

Or just walk into the front door of the White House, they leave it open.
 
Re: Here we go... drone deliberately flown at passenger airl

ianwood said:
I'd be very surprised if this was an intentional fabrication. However, I do strongly believe whatever they saw was not what they concluded it to be. Pilots are typically very busy on approach. There's not a lot of time to stare out the window. And they're moving at a very high rate of speed.

For a Phantom to be anything other than a blur passing by in a fraction of a second, it would have to be a reasonable distance away. And I think we all now how small our Phantoms get when they're only a couple hundred meters away. It's highly unlikely they could ID a quadcopter under such conditions.

So, I call BS on this not because the pilots are lying but because they're wrong. It's very similar to the report from the NYPD helicopter of a Phantom moving at impossible speeds. They didn't lie either. They just misjudged the distance, size and speed. Easily done when you're busy doing something else and you're moving as well.

Fair enough ;)
 
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