It is surprisingly quiet round here today.
Nothing in the sky ..I can normally see the planes taking off and landing at Gatwick from my lounge window.
I feel sorry for those affected and wonder just how long it is going to last.
Anyone possibly affected on here? My son is due to fly in on Christmas eve, hopefully the problem will have gone by then.
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Flying drones near airports should be banned with some jail terms for the guilty.
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>> Flying drones near airports should be banned with some jail terms for the guilty.
That's already the case. Not allowed within 1km of airport and restricted to maz altitude of 400 feet. No good if, as is problem here, operator cannot be located.
Pilot's representative on radio this morning made point that an aircraft 1km from touchdown may well be below 400feet and find a legitimately flown drone above.
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I'm very surprised the height limit is as high as 400 feet, one of my hobbies is kite flying and we are restricted to just 60 metres by the CAA.
I leave right next to Biggin Hill airport so I vae to go a long way out to fly anything which is a pain!
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It already is and carries upto 5 years in prison. Problem is catching them.
I know there's all sorts of ideas knocking about to stop drones, jamming technology, birds of prey, other drones, nets fired at them, radar controlled shotguns.
Shows how easy it is to shut down an airport relatively cheaply and it can be tricky to find the person responsible.
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Its a ridiculous situation, complete laughing stock.
A non military or commercial drone, has at most a 15 minute flight time. Gatwick has now been closed for 15 hours. I say again FIFTEEN HOURS. We have daylight for 4 hours. Someone somewhere need a good bum kicking for not getting this situation sorted by now.
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What size of drones are they? Surely the ones that they use now for filming can stay in the air for longer than 15 mins?
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When I say filming I mean films, TV programmes like Grand Tour etc
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>> When I say filming I mean films, TV programmes like Grand Tour etc
Usually not, no. I have talked to a commercial drone film operator, 15/20 minutes its about your max, BUT you do have multiple charged power packs, and the drone self flies "home" when power gets low. Changing power pack and getting back on station is a 5 minute job at most.
I watched one guy stream, and process the video live in his van while his mate outside was the pilot.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 14:04
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>> What size of drones are they? Surely the ones that they use now for filming
>> can stay in the air for longer than 15 mins?
Reports suggest a heavy duty professional drone with relatively long endurance and not just toy/hobby job. More than one involved.
Cannot shoot it/them down with police/military weapons because of risk from stray bullets. Did wonder about prospect of a 12-bore shotgun bringing one down.
My colleague suggests it could be Russia or a n other power setting out to cause economic disruption.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 11:53
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Cannot shoot it/them down with police/military weapons because of risk from stray bullets. Did wonder
>> about prospect of a 12-bore shotgun bringing one down.
Doubt it would be low enough to bring it down with a 12 gauge, not much range on them.
I think the bird of prey is the best bet at the moment.
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>> My colleague suggests it could be Russia or a n other power setting out to
>> cause economic disruption.
Cobblers.
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>> Reports suggest a heavy duty professional drone with relatively long endurance
An hour max
As for shooting it down, its has limited control range, there is a person on the ground controlling it, shouldn't be hard to find visually or by RF detection. You can even jam the thing, its not a military encrypted frequency hopping job.
Fact remains this is a complete cockup
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 12:04
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>>it could be Russia or a n other power setting out to cause economic disruption.
Possibly Remain Central showing what it would be like when the planes don't fly on April 1st.
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>> >
>>
>> Cannot shoot it/them down with police/military weapons because of risk from stray bullets.
Surely a much lower order of risk than of a plane crashing?
Wouldn't a falling drone, downed by shotgun, bird of prey or jamming, be more a risk than a falling bullet?
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>> Problem is catching them.
So someone can drop a bomb from a drone without the fear of being caught?
How they are going to catch an unmanned drone from a hostile country entering UK airspace with intention of damage?
Of it could be some bright spark from our own intelligence team is behind it and hence authorities are unable (= unwilling) to identify him/them?
I still find it strange that in this day and age a large aircraft (that Malaysian flight) can disappear without a trace!
Last edited by: movilogo on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 16:07
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I think that's the point; this is seemingly not a terrorism situation. So unless they catch and stop this [presumably] amateur incident the how will they retain their anti-terrorism credibility?
And as we know, this is the UK, so if the media decides that it's front page material, the lemmings will clamour for your dismissal.
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...it's keeping Brexit well down the front pages, though.....
;-)
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>> ...it's keeping Brexit well down the front pages, though.....
>>
>> ;-)
There I got brexit into the mix.
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>> >> Problem is catching them.
>>
>> So someone can drop a bomb from a drone without the fear of being caught?
They have small payloads, but someone has supposedly try to blow up a president with a drone, however it remains in doubt
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracas_drone_attack
>> How they are going to catch an unmanned drone from a hostile country entering UK
>> airspace with intention of damage?
Brexit will fix that
>> Of it could be some bright spark from our own intelligence team is behind it
>> and hence authorities are unable (= unwilling) to identify him/them?
Yes sure.
>> I still find it strange that in this day and age a large aircraft (that
>> Malaysian flight) can disappear without a trace!
It hasnt, it has left traces, but they dont know exactly where it is.,
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>> >> Problem is catching them.
>>
>> So someone can drop a bomb from a drone without the fear of being caught?
It's happened before but not in this country.
>> How they are going to catch an unmanned drone from a hostile country entering UK
>> airspace with intention of damage?
>>
Completely different of fish to today. The nearest hostile country is a fair distance away.
>>
>>
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>>
>> The nearest hostile country is a fair distance away.
....only if you discount Scotland......
;-)
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>>The nearest hostile country is a fair distance away.
The nearest hostile country can have a man on a yacht within 100 yards of our coastline.
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>>Of it could be some bright spark from our own intelligence team is behind it
Why would Indian intelligence services be doing this?
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Well, I’m supposed to be flying back into Gatwick this afternoon on a BA flight. They texted me at 8:30 this morning to say the flight was cancelled, and I’d been booked on one tomorrow morning... I’m now waiting for a Jet2 (are they real....) flight to Stansted instead :(
Leaves in 30 minutes...fingers crossed!
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Jet2 are real. They are a holiday/ chartered airline owned by the Dart Group, think Fowler Welch lorries .
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>> Jet2 are real. They are a holiday/ chartered airline owned by the Dart Group, think
>> Fowler Welch lorries .
>>
Thanks! Seems to a new, clean plane anyway. Red and silver seats plus red lighting a bit loud...
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I fly Jet2 out of LBA most months. I was due to return this Friday but paid their £48 admin fee and now on the last pre Xmas TFS>LBA flight Sunday 14:10.
Enticed to stay an extra 48 hours by the unseasonably hot weather
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Looks like there was a sighting of one at 12.15, so I don't think it's opening any time soon.
It seems it's been done at frequent intervals, 30 odd officers are out and about looking.
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Big area to cover around Gatwick and mostly countryside so I would have thought using IR could pick up some sources in this cold weather, although dog walkers could be mistakenly spotted.
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Safe journey PeterS!
I understand that some drones can be autonomous, operating with a gps route and the controller could be some way away!
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>> Safe journey PeterS!
>>
>> I understand that some drones can be autonomous, operating with a gps route and the
>> controller could be some way away!
>>
>>
Back and in a taxi on the M25 now. Not been to stansted for over 15 year. It’s a bit run down isn’t it! But, no drones :)
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I suppose they could be anywhere within an area of 50 square miles around the airport, more likely to be to the east or west under the flightpath but they would have many areas of woodland cover and country lanes to disappear into around the area.
I know from friends who own land there that the police make regular searches under the flightpath for any suspicious terrorist activity / items but this does not strike me as a terrorist attack..I may be wrong but it seems more like a protest against the airport expansion .
The airport want to use the taxiway currently used as a standby runway on a more permanent basis, the locals are not happy at the proposed increase in flights.
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Sounds very plausible.... made me laugh this morning when one London radio presenter suggested that a RAF Typhoon should have been scrambled to shoot them out of the sky.... he was NOT joking!
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Lunchtime news showed grainy photos of police with high power rifles deployed around the airport.....
I too think I would rather risk the drones were taken out by a bullet rather than a drone taking out a plane.
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I too think I would rather risk the drones were taken out by a bullet
>> rather than a drone taking out a plane.
>>
I don't think you need worry about the latter at Gatwick for a while yet...
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So you think from a grainy photo YOU can identify a “high powered rifle” do you?
Furthermore there won’t be any taking out of a moving item of this nature with a “Rifle”.
Know your subject.
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My niece lives very close to Gatwick - has just told the family whatsapp chat that her place is surrounded by armed police and they may be about to be evacuated....
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Apologies, although she lives close by she is actually at work in Gatwick Airport just now.
About to be a major call made as darkness falls.
From what she has heard they reckon there is more than one which keep disappearing and coming back, suggesting that they are having batteries replaced ongoing. My nephew has a drone and he says that his won't physically go up in a restricted area - not sure if that is due to GPS info or whatever?
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>> drone and he says that his won't physically go up in a restricted area -
>> not sure if that is due to GPS info or whatever?
Geo fencing, Its a voluntary code of conduct by drone makers in some countries, a legal requirement in others, all can be overcome by hacking the software in the drone.
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Four “industrial” size drones according to the copper talking to my niece.
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>> Four “industrial” size drones according to the copper talking to my niece.
Industrial size drones are about the weight (with max payload) of my dog (20kg), and have a flight time duration of 20 minutes, 8 if fully payloaded and is about 1 cubic metre in size. They cost about 10 grand apiece.
Although they fold down pretty small - The chances of 4 of them being there are pretty remote.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 19:31
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They are certainly being described as "industrial" including by the chief copper on the scene.
Perhaps "commercial" would be a better adjective.
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> Four “industrial” size drones according to the copper talking to my niece.
Same being reported by BBC.
Army personnel with "specialist equipment" now called in.
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The chances of a plane being down by your average drone are remote, even if they come into contact.
Unless of course its a predator or a reaper.
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>> The chances of a plane being down by your average drone are remote, even if
>> they come into contact.
>>
>> Unless of course its a predator or a reaper.
There are photographs out there of damage to radomes etc from drone impacts. I'd imagine anything bigger than a toy could do significant damage to the internal gubbins of a jet engine. The incident at Manchester where a lapwing, not exactly a big bird, took out one engine of a Thomson 757 is much viewed on you tube.
Chance may be remote but not sufficiently so that potential risk can be carried unmitigated.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 15:15
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>> There are photographs out there of damage to radomes etc from drone impacts. I'd imagine
>> anything bigger than a toy could do significant damage to the internal gubbins of a
>> jet engine.
Yes of course it could
The incident at Manchester where a lapwing, not exactly a big bird, took
>> out one engine of a Thomson 757 is much viewed on you tube.
Indeed, which is why the damn thing is designed to take off, fly and return on one engine because it is a commonly encountered hazard. There are a gazzilion more birds around airports than drones, birds tend to come in flocks, drones dont.
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>> Know your subject
Looked like one to me, although it was a poor quality photo. What do you think it was?
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 21 Dec 18 at 01:57
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Speculation is pointless. I haven’t seen the pics, but I suspect a shotgun of some description. Single barrelled multi shot or pump action. Same thing really.
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Drones are fragile, wont take more than a couple of pellets from the spread to bring it down if its in range.
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I suppose it depends on how low they've been flying it. I haven't seen any pictures of one flying about at Gatwick.
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> Drones are fragile, wont take more than a couple of pellets from the spread to
> bring it down if its in range.
You'd be lucky to score a hit on anything further out than about 100 yards with standard shotgun ammo. Much better to shoot the operator.
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Why the snotty comments MD?
I did nothng but report exactly what was said and shown on the lunchtime news.
If you have nothing useful to say I suggest you keep it shut...
Last edited by: helicopter on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 16:37
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The MoD have formally been asked to help by Sussex Police.
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We've got 3,500 troops on standby somewhere, haven't we.
Maybe we could use this as a training exercise.
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This is a perfect example of where the scroats who are doing this should quit while they are ahead. But they will have the buzz now and will want the fame when they are caught.
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Do they show up on radar to pin-point the take-off area??
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>> Do they show up on radar to pin-point the take-off area??
AIUI civil atc radar these days works primarily by interrogating the 'target' aircraft's transponder etc; known as secondary radar. Computers tidy up the image by removing clutter.
Don't think there's much primary radar, reliant only on echoes, left on civil sites.
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Wasn't there something on Tv recently about HMS Duncan being able to track an object the size of a football at MACH 3 as far away as 150 miles?
.*********
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>> Wasn't there something on Tv recently about HMS Duncan being able to track an object
>> the size of a football at MACH 3 as far away as 150 miles?
>>
>>
>> .*********
Alas HMS Duncan cant get that far up the River Mole.
Military threat radar, are designed to point out of the UK, not inwards. Tho its not beyond the bounds of possibility to get a mobile military radar in there
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Oh OK, so they are virtually invisible unless directly eyeballed, I guess that would go for any flying object that doesn't have a 'transponder' like a microlight or hot-air balloon?
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The *** bit above said park HMS Duncan off Brighton and let her shoot down anything over the runway
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>> The *** bit above said park HMS Duncan off Brighton and let her shoot down
>> anything over the runway
The South Downs are in the way, you'll just see ground clutter on the scope.
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>> Oh OK, so they are virtually invisible unless directly eyeballed, I guess that would go
>> for any flying object that doesn't have a 'transponder' like a microlight or hot-air balloon?
>>
More a case of the right tool for the job.
www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/08/uk-buys-israeli-anti-drone-system-which-uses-5-kilowatt-laser-to-takeout-drones-up-to-2000-meters-away.html/amp
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Dreadful for the families with young children looking forward to going on their holidays. As adults we can cope with the loss of a holiday, but children are probably hyped up about it for weeks in advance. I hope that their holiday insurance provides adequate cancellation cover, although there is always the odd numpty who doesn’t take out holiday insurance ( which includes my 91yo mother who if croaks in Spain comes home in a Tupperware box)
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Gonna be a tight squeeze, largest is 19 x 15 x 6""/48 x 38 x 15 cm.
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>> ...liquidiser?...
Not allowed, would need to be left in the bin at security
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...a liquidised parent would be hold baggage, surely?......
(Though RyanAir would probably want to charge for an additional person :-( )
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>> ...a liquidised parent would be hold baggage, surely?......
>>
>> (Though RyanAir would probably want to charge for an additional person :-( )
LL travels light, cabin baggage only
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Ewe know what I mean...she’s an incredibly stoical old bird, widowed for over 40 years. We’ve discussed it when myself and friends take her to Spain. She wouldn’t be unduly concerned travelling back in my hand luggage sharing the tupperware with a few perro y gato ashes, if they’d allow it at the local pet crem.
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Clearly the person or persons to blame here are the operators but they have certainly exposed the shortcomings of the security resources.
There must be a quick and safe way of neutralising these but the time to figure it out was before it was needed.
In terms of financial damage this has become a very serious crime.
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>> Why the snotty comments MD?
>>
>> I did nothng but report exactly what was said and shown on the lunchtime news.
>>
>> If you have nothing useful to say I suggest you keep it shut...
>>
It is a subject that I am qualified to talk about. You stick to helicopters of which I know FA.
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Whether you are qualified to talk about arms or not I do not know or care but I just do not like your condecending attitude MD.
As I said it was what was reported on the news, no more or less but you saw fit to berate me over your perception of my supposed lack of knowledge.
Perhaps your knee was hurting so I forgive you.
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The police are now open to shooting down the drones. Apparently drones still flying about. I wonder if they are under pressure to get the airport open?
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>> I wonder if they are under pressure to get the airport open?
You think?
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Well it just an opening to a debate on here. ;-)
Various power plays will decide how this plays out that's for sure.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 22:50
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Presumably using slug-throwers to try to take down a drone means having ammunition landing on the ground at 200+mph a mile or two away.
I would have thought the military would have RF jammers of some kind but maybe they don't want to publicise what they can do?
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>> I would have thought the military would have RF jammers of some kind but maybe
>> they don't want to publicise what they can do?
for sure they do, and GPS jammers. The effects cant be contained tho and collateral effects in a built up area would be enormous. But its not exactly secret, the Russians have been doing it round the coasts of the uk for a number of years.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 22:58
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Maybe a sniper and spotter team(s) of any nationality who aren’t currently on active service.
And yes I’ve just finished reading American Sniper whilst on my jollies
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Ironically, while you are trapped at Gatwick waiting for your flight, you can pop into Dixons in duty free and buy a drone.
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Mrs Z has just told me that our dog minders were supposed to be flying out to Spain for a couple of weeks today.
They are a lovely retired couple who dog mind to pay for treats like this!
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I finished reading American Sniper a month or so ago LL.
A good interesting read , bit sad that he eventually got taken out by a nutjob in the US after all he had been through in Iraq.
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Yes
About to read ‘American Gun’ by the same author once I’ve finished Antony Beevor’s ‘Ardennes 1944’.
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Gatwick airport: How countries counter the drone threat
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46639099
Other countries seem more strict with drone laws.
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Erd what I thought was a good idea on the wireless this morgen - the old bill could send up their own drone to follow the hostile jobbie back to whence it came.
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Well the airport is open again.The Teegraph are pointing the finger at 'eco warriors'
Interesting to note that on flight radar today the number of control vehicles they are tracking on the ground in and around the airport is currently 9. This is three times more than I have seen on the ground before. Full of police or army marksmen perhaps
Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted maybe but I hope it means every traveller gets to where they want to be for Christmas.
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Unless the matter has been raised in one of the many posts above, isn't it odd that the notion of arms-bearing drones being used by terrorists or common criminals for murders receives no attention? This use was demonstrated a year or two ago in a TV demonstration. The drone was carrying a modified automatic and homed in on a ground target, before accurately shooting it up.
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Just been on Facebook...had to laugh at a post on there with an aerial picture and the comment 'Just got some great pictures of Gatwick with my new drone. Shame the airport was closed though because no planes were flying in or out'..
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Looks like they've had to close again after another sighting of a drone.
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>> Looks like they've had to close again after another sighting of a drone.
>>
This is certainly keeping Brexit of the front page.
Has anyone seen Teresa May recently? :-)
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.....last seen passing through Crawley carrying a remote control......
;-)
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Latest information apparently is that they are not drones they are Ryanair supereconomy ....
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Similar picture with TM holding a drone control unit and a drone hovering infront of her "This will take their minds off Brexit for a few hours" :))
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For the perpetrators, I hope they have a miserable lonely Christmas followed by many more increasingly miserable.
I hope when they are found they are first found by civilians who have had their Christmas spoiled and decide that handing out a serious kicking will help.
Utter scumbags.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 29 Jan 20 at 10:34
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Surely a few hundred clay pigeon shooters / gamekeepers, spaced around the perimeter of the airport, could have solved the issue in a very short time.
But then again, that might have compromised the rights of the drone owner!
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Two arrests made last night, man and woman held but no further details as yet.Apparently the perpetrators got cocky and flew the drone right up to the control tower to taunt the police but in the process gave away clues as to the make and model of drone which is only available in a handful of locations in the UK.
I hope the perpetrators are treated to the full force of the justice system,.but is five years in prison enough for the misery inflicted on thousands of travellers.
Last edited by: helicopter on Sat 22 Dec 18 at 08:23
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>> I hope the perpetrators are treated to the full force of the justice system,.but is
>> five years in prison enough for the misery inflicted on thousands of travellers.
>>
.....given that the occurrences must patently have been "separate" (the drone must have been landed, recharged/refuelled, and there is a matter of a few days involved), I'd be considering separate prosecutions/indictments for each occurrence, with consecutive rather than concurrent sentencing.
I think the fundamentals are there within English law, but no doubt it would fall foul of something. :-(
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Potential danger, upset, frustration, massive inconvenience, financial loss yes but misery?
Misery is the loss of a loved one, suffering, chronic pain, starvation and the like. Lets try to keep things in proportion. Yes a jail term of up to five years is about right. Five years in jail would deter most people from doing such a thing and for those idiots for whom it wouldn’t a longer sentence would make no difference.
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>> Yes a jail term of up to five
>> years is about right. Five years in jail would deter most people from doing such
>> a thing and for those idiots for whom it wouldn’t a longer sentence would make
>> no difference.
>>
...though a maximum sentence of 5 years would, in almost all circumstances, mean nothing like 5 years in jail.......
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Probably result in serving around three years. Same comments apply.
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>> Probably result in serving around three years. Same comments apply.
Five years would be automatic parole, albeit tagged and curfewed, after two and a half years.
According to Guardian however suspects are being questioned “on suspicion of disrupting services of civil aviation in a way likely to endanger the safety of operations or persons” – offences that carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 23 Dec 18 at 01:55
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Now released without being charged
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>> Now released without being charged
If only the same could be said about the drones.
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Misery is defined as a state or feeling of great physical or mental distress CGN
So to my mind , yes,the woman with stage 4 cancer ( or indeed anyone) forced to sleep in a chair or on the floor overnight suffered misery as did those interviewed who missed their grandmothers funeral in Ghana or the kids who had looked forward to their trip to Lapland to see Father Christmas and those who saved all year for a holiday to see it snatched away by these morons.
Yes , that is misery.
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>> .....given that the occurrences must patently have been "separate" (the drone must have been landed,
>> recharged/refuelled, and there is a matter of a few days involved), I'd be considering separate
>> prosecutions/indictments for each occurrence, with consecutive rather than concurrent sentencing.
>>
>> I think the fundamentals are there within English law, but no doubt it would fall
>> foul of something. :-(
No fundamentals in english law. Take a shotgun for instance (assume you dont hit anyone) - you discharge the weapon on public place, reload, do it again, reload, etc - There is only one offence of discharging a firearm in a public place
Take speeding, if in a 30 mile journey you set off every speed camera on the M25, there is only one speeding offence.
Assuming there was a deliberate attempt to disrupt airport ops, its only a single deliberate action, albeit intermittent over a long period of time. That should ensure maximum sentencing tho
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>> Take speeding, if in a 30 mile journey you set off every speed camera on
>> the M25, there is only one speeding offence.
>>
....that is certainly true if it was a single journey (and you can prove it).
However, if you take a 30 mile journey and you set off every speed camera on
the M25, then stop and park up, and then repeat the process as a return journey, that is two separate offences - (and, if you apply a similar model to your shotgun example, the same applies).
Which is why I phrased my OP as I did ;-)
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That thought occurred to me too FB. Although I suspect that the notion of a load of people with shotguns wandering around an airport might fry the the brains of the security authorities !
Tangentially ( who me? ) I remember years ago, many years ago actually, I'd been clay pigeon shooting one Sunday in Somerset. Somehow I'd managed to mis-remember a flight time for a plane I needed to get to Venice that night, and realised that I was running very late. Rushed back from the shoot to grab my overnight bag and without time to change clothes, drove, erm, spiritedly, to Heathrow to catch my Sunday night flight.
On going through security, they were more than a little miffed by the the couple of shotgun cartridges I still had in my jacket pocket...
:-(
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SWMBO is telling me that the word is the insurers won't pay out for cancellations because suspected act of terrorism. Maybe it wasn't! Either way I must admit (without reading my small print) I'd have thought someone would have paid out something for the genuinely inconvenienced.
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I think the CAA declared that it was an 'unforeseen circumstance' which allowed the airlines not to comply with one of the regs to pay compensation to passengers, that meant passengers then started looking at their insurers, now seems maybe they are going to try and wiggle out of paying as well.
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>> SWMBO is telling me that the word is the insurers won't pay out for cancellations
>> because suspected act of terrorism.
good luck with that one, because HM gov declared it wasnt. Its a high profile event, the first insurance company that tries that one will be publicly vilified and can expect very poor press indeed.
Yes the airlines wont have to pay because it is a: unforeseen and b: beyond their control.
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>>>On going through security, they were more than a little miffed by the the couple of shotgun cartridges I still had in my jacket pocket...
:-( <<<
Surprised they spotted them! I flew about 10 times with my Barbour Jacket with a shotgun cartridge deep in the shoplifting pocket. Never spotted.
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We flew with my young son to Spain once, he packed a load of silly toys in his rucksack, and it sent security into a spin when it went through the scanner. His back was searched, nothing found so off we went
Upon arrival we discovered he had a .762* deactivated round on a key ring he had bought at an English Heritage place some months previously. Security never found it.
* Not small these things nearly three inches long
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I was stopped leaving Beijing airport and taken into the security area to explain a suspicious item in my baggage .
I must admit to being worried although I knew I had nothing illegal in there.
The suspicious item turned out to be my shaving brush with a metal ribbed handle .Where it was positioned in the corner of my square washbag apparently made it look to the security like a battery in a bomb....
I have been stopped a couple of times by security and customs at Gatwick, bags checked for drugs by security and I had one extra bottle of spirits when Customs stopped me at Christmas. I had not even thought about it when I bought an extra bottle in duty free for a prize in a charity raffle. I was allowed to keep.it.
Also searched at Atlanta and told off because I had a plastic cigarette lighter in my pocket..they had changed the regulations earlier that year.
Car was also once given a real going over at Harwich despite being with wife son and her parents
Maybe I just look suspicious...
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46616004
A baby on a small Pacific island has become the first person given a vaccine delivered by a commercial drone.
Unicef arranged for the drone to be flown some 40km (25 miles) across rugged mountains in Vanuatu that otherwise take hours to cross.
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Of the couple arrested , it appears the husband is a window fitter who is a conscientious worker having worked for same employer 17 years and also a keen drone enthusiast.....but according to his employer on Thursday he was at work all day finishing off a job until late.... and his ex wife also vouches that he was with her at the time of other sightings.
Does not seem to add up to me...but what do I know.
Last edited by: helicopter on Sun 23 Dec 18 at 09:53
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Either they wanted to be caught or the last flight was made by different people, before the military were called in at the end the flyers had got away with it... they could have disappeared and probably not been found as the officials seemed clueless....
Maybe the final flight was a copy-cat?
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Sunday Torygraph Sooty.
If the report is correct it just seems odd to me . Would not group him in the eco warrior type...
Last edited by: helicopter on Sun 23 Dec 18 at 10:30
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Right, looks like it could be a complicated case.
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Both no longer suspects and released without charge...the plot thickens...
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Police have found a damaged drone just outside the airport.
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It appears the two damaged drones found on the perimeter of the airfield are nothing to do with the airport being forced to close.
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From the BBC...
"The 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman, from Crawley, West Sussex, had been arrested on Friday night.
Their release came as Sussex Police said they were relying on eye witnesses and there may have been no "genuine drone activity in the first place"."
??????
Someone surely is taking the mick...……………..
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OK nobody's mentioned it......
UFO's????
;)
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>>UFO's????
Was going to post an article about that from the highly-esteemed Express snoozpaper in the week.
They are obviously using a cloaking device which is why they have been playing a game of now-you-see-me-now-ewe-don't.
Plenty of 'stuff' on the internet about sightings of UFO's probing the defences of Gatwick over the years.
I wouldn't be surprized if they're about to take control of the government, if they haven't already.
Savid Javid looks like the Martian in The Martian Chronicles, and May is clearly not of this world, knowlmean.
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Was reading an article about David Icke in yesterday’s Times and then read an article about the latest turmoil in the White House.
Beginning to understand what he means when he says we are being ruled by shape shifting reptilians.
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Well the worry I had is now over ,as according to Flight radar my son has just landed safely and only 15 minutes late at Gatwick after a trip to Jamaica .Once he is through passport control he will ring and I will drive up there to collect him ,it's only 20 minutes.
The family Christmas can then officially begin.
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Here is the Argentinian anti drone system in action. Cheap and very effective.
www.facebook.com/TalentsStockport/videos/1675822752564439/
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>> Here is the Argentinian anti drone system in action. Cheap and very effective.
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>> www.facebook.com/TalentsStockport/videos/1675822752564439/
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Bog Off !!!
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This is all very strange.
It seems that the Police do believe that there were unknown drones flying around the airport. Though the total number of drones included their own.
Loads of activity and then just stopped. Seemingly nobody claiming responsibility although rumours seem to cover everything from Eco Warriors to The Kremlin.
I wonder if some parents went on holiday and their drones were flown in their absence? Or perhaps there were really no drones? Or perhaps an isolated incident which got blown out of all proportion?
All very strange.
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> All very strange.
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Indeed very much a mystery. Although I have to say the communication out of Sussex Police has been poor.
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Just goes to show that despite previous events warning of the possibility in the past, little or nothing was done to prepare a plan of action to cope with this. Every cock up imaginable is on show here, including making a drama into a crisis and eventual panic.
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Leeds Bradford currently closed due a drone sighting.
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Leeds Bradford operations now returning to normal. Diverting flights turned back to land as planned.
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Gatwick Drone chaos - movilogo
