Gatwick closed (mod note post 1)

Dardania

I wonder are there any emails sent to Gatwick requesting bitcoin?!

Could be just an extortion scheme...

lawred2

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Why, is their Google Earth broken?

aren't airports grayed out on google earth?

maybe that's something else

dhaughton99

Was there not a Xmas airport bomb threat a few years ago that shutdown an airport or am I thinking of Die Hard 2?

ectoraige

I'm very surprised it has lasted this long. A single-shot way to take down a drone is to just fly another drone into it. The cost of replacing a drone or two is nothing compared to the cost of the disruption. The police must really be prioritising finding the culprits

nim1bdeh38l2cw

lawred2 wrote: »

aren't airports grayed out on google earth?

maybe that's something else

No they're not.

robinph

mikegermany wrote: »

They're not big and heavy to transport

They lock onto the target ,you don't fire off multiple missiles

Can we at least stick with facts if you're arguing the point

Your initial suggestion that missiles were a bigger threat to airports is wrong for the various reason that have been pointed out. Yes, if they were to launch then the loss of life would be fairly substantial, but the abundance of drones, the easy of purchasing them, the ease of operating them, the relatively minor consequences for operating them near an airport (5 years in prison for a drone, getting shot for using a missile launcher) all mean that the drone is far bigger issue for airports.

Missiles are an issue, but the likely hood of it happening is orders of magnitude less than a drone flying about.

dhaughton99

MarkHenderson wrote: »

Has Sky News blamed the Russians yet.

You’ll have to wait for Kay Burly to turn up. The interns are filling in at the moment.

GBX

I get what goes up must come down in relation to a miss from firing a weapon, but there are stories of snipiers hitting targets out in Iraq/Afghanistan ... surely they could take a drone out. Especially if its flying over a closed airfield where if it dropped would not cause any more delays other than cleaning the debris.

lawred2

GBX wrote: »

I get what goes up must come down in relation to a miss from firing a weapon, but there are stories of snipiers hitting targets out in Iraq/Afghanistan ... surely they could take a drone out. Especially if its flying over a closed airfield where if it dropped would not cause any more delays other than cleaning the debris.

drone would surely be moving too fast even for a sniper

jay48

ectoraige wrote: »

I'm very surprised it has lasted this long. A single-shot way to take down a drone is to just fly another drone into it. The cost of replacing a drone or two is nothing compared to the cost of the disruption. The police must really be prioritising finding the culprits

Was thinking the same, fly another drone into it, sweep up, job done.

plodder

ectoraige wrote: »

I'm very surprised it has lasted this long. A single-shot way to take down a drone is to just fly another drone into it. The cost of replacing a drone or two is nothing compared to the cost of the disruption. The police must really be prioritising finding the culprits

Just thinking aloud, but it could turn out that lasers aren't viable in the medium term and they have to do something like the above. I doubt they can do that currently, because it will have to be automated (night time) and I think we would know about it if such technology was deployed in airports currently. So, there isn't a whole lot else the police can do today. But, I can imagine interesting R&D being done on drone dog-fighting basically, and the use of swarms of small drones maybe.

lawred2

Is it still closed?

realdanbreen

lawred2 wrote: »

drone would surely be moving too fast even for a sniper

This sounds like a job for 'my brother Sylvest..'

Kevski

This is a very Wile E. Coyote suggestion but what about sending out another drone with a big net hanging from it and trying to get the other drone tangled up in it...? :pac:

dhaughton99

lawred2 wrote: »

drone would surely be moving too fast even for a sniper

I’m sure that the military have come across this before in the battlefield and have much easier solutions. Directional Signal jammers etc.

I’m putting this down to a different threat against the airport or aircraft and they just don’t want to say.

Dardania

Maybe it's not a terrorist or disruptive activity - maybe the poor drone is lost. we should send:

ectoraige

Since it is going on so long, my presumption is whoever is doing this has a stock of drones that they are deploying periodically - no point taking one out when another comes along to take it's place a while later, possibly after resuming flight operations.

zell12

DailyMail informs us:

Dardania

It's interesting to see FR - every jeep they have seems to be on the east side:
https://www.flightradar24.com/airport/lgw/arrivals

ectoraige

Kevski wrote: »

This is a very Wile E. Coyote suggestion but what about sending out another drone with a big net hanging from it and trying to get the other drone tangled up in it...? :pac:

There's numerous systems like this, see Dronecatcher for example. I bet they'll be seeing an uptick in orders after this. I assume though Gatwick (or indeed any of the London area airports) haven't invested in defensive systems like this, hence my thought they'd prefer to have somebody fly another drone into it and deal with the runway FOD.


I guess though until they've found who is doing it, they fear further releases after operations resume.

lawred2

zell12 wrote: »

DailyMail informs us:

I detest that media outlet

plodder

ectoraige wrote: »

There's numerous systems like this, see Dronecatcher for example.

How fast do you think the target and the catcher are moving in that clip?

I think the camera taking the video is moving faster.

robinph

Dardania wrote: »

It's interesting to see FR - every jeep they have seems to be on the east side:
https://www.flightradar24.com/airport/lgw/arrivals

If you were going to try and land, change batteries and relaunch then in amongst the mayhem of loads of pissed off passengers is probably the best place to hide, it's also the hardest part for the police to be able to get through the traffic to then find you.

Tenzor07

Norwegian 787's in SNN and DUB at the moment on divert...

CountingCrows

Sounds like a job for Airwolf

Tenzor07

Another drone spotted in Gatwick, so it's closed now until 6pm.

Another 787 on it's way to DUB now also from LAX.


https://www.flightradar24.com/NRS6YA/1eed5399

dhaughton99

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Another drone spotted in Gatwick, so it's closed now until 6pm.

Another 787 on it's way to DUB now also...

Where are you seeing that. Sky news says last one spotted at 9.

Mebuntu

Whoever is causing such chaos so easily will now be confident to commence operations at Heathrow et al and do even more damage. Could eventually be another 9/11 aftermath situation with all major UK airports closed indefinitely.

robinph

Not seen further mention of drones being seen since about 9am, but Gatwick have stated they remain closed at 11:45:

https://twitter.com/Gatwick_Airport/status/1075721134765686784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1075721134765686784&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fchaos-at-gatwick-after-drone-sightings-force-runway-closure-11586557

PCX

It could be an environmental protest group or a disgruntled local resident.

Both groups have been opposing the addition of a second runway and increasing numbers of flights using the airport.