Drones at Gatwick

The police have said very little, the newspaper reports of a cyclist in "his 30s" packing away a drone in a lane 4 miles away, that may or may not be the drone pilot. Maybe the police identified the couple by other means, they are claiming credit by the technology for identifying them, but they would try to justify that wouldn't they.

The culprit probably was the man on the bike, because any innocent drone flyers would not be anywhere near Gatwick that day. Or would they!.

I would have expected the police to have said they have found the drone, they haven't ??. The couple must have a positive connection or the police would have released them by now, maybe a phone number, or suspicious social media.

Well, they are still being held after being arrested on Friday, so the Police must have some reason for it.

i would think the police would go on more than the fact that someone is a drone obsessive. In fact you would think that someone that obviously a drone enthusiast would be the last person to do something like this, but there are some really stupid people about and an obsessive could easily get everything out of proportion.

Also, and I have experienced this, bringing a town or an airport to a grinding halt gives real =feeling of power. Some years ago I reported a gas leak, that turned out to be in the busy road that ran past our house where it was quite narrow. There also happened to be roadworks and traffic lights on the only alternative route.

I had the a day off work and stood in our bedroom window, watching the complete gridlock that virtually shutdown half of a large town. saying to myself ' I caused all that with one phone call. I confess, it gave me quite a feeling of power.

Riverwalk I think they may have the wrong people.
His interest in drones and aircraft which he plastered on Facebook has been picked up, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are released uncharged (unless he has secret connections to local protests about increasing the Gatwick runways)

The arrested couple hardly fit the expected profile!

So much talk of eco-warriors, Russians, nerds in a bedroom, and latterly near-genius mastermind who's likely to have a PhD.

Graylings prison regime didn't work either when he was in charge of prisons ! He's another useless individual.

I agree with you Rosina about overstretching of resources at a very problematic time. I was married to a police officer who served on the Bomb Squad so I have every admiration for what the police have to do and the long hours they have to work, sadly with few thanks from the public, just complaints.

The problem is, Rosina that the perpetrators of this event probably do not have anything to claim against, so suing them would be a waste of time. Otherwise I entirely agree with you.

The two arrested have not been charged, so we do not know it was them, nor do we yet know the motive.

Sparklefizz there was not a thought of criticism for the way the Police have gone about this - like others no doubt I was really concerned that this might be a building terrorist atrocity when so many lives could be involved if a plane were brought down. The Police have found the idiots in a very short time; it's the overstretching of resources that concerns me. We have two members of the force in our family and you would never hear a word of criticism from me - we know at first hand what they have to tackle on a daily basis and often without much in the way of back up.

Rosina Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Who knew 36 hours ago that it wasn't terrorism? We still don't know the motive behind all this.

Thank you Gonegirl

(Chris Grayling)

If there was a 'like' button on here sparklefizz, I would be using at your post.

I did look for a thread about this having just heard that two people have been taken in for questioning. I then started one but felt it best to join in here. What an unbelievable waste of Police time given the threats we face from violence and terrorism.
It might be a good idea if everyone who has had their holiday affected or ruined were to take out a private prosecution to claim compensation from the perpetrators.

As someone mentioned further back, I also worry now that every numpty will create some mischief with a drone like the idiots with their laser pens.

According to today's Times:

"Chris Grayling shelved plans to introduce laws regulating drone use in Britain despite being warned on multiple occasions about the risk they posed to airports."

He should be sacked.

It's probably been cobbled up in someone's shed/garage by a computer nerd.

I read that there was no signal between drone and its owner/controller because it was preprogrammed - hence owner and drone could not be traced by signal.

I hope that the anti-drone technology is very quickly deployed at other UK airports. Some other b******s might well decide on a copycat exploit.

Put the morons inside Gatwick airport with all those people whose Christmas has been ruined by their actions.

If I had to dish out punishment the offenders would find themselves lashed to a drone and flown out over the north sea.
Evil morons causing mayhem at an airport.

It would be nice to hear that they had got the drone, so I guess they haven't.
Aparently he was hovering the drone right in front of the control tower, taking the p!!!.
To do that he would have to fly manually using the camera. This is no kid, he is a skilled hacker out to prove a point.

I did Google industrial drones, some can carry 25 kg for 20 mins duration, buy one for £10k or steal one, that is a very big bomb if there was malicious intent rather than nuisance.

Latest says a man and a woman being interviewed.

This from the Guardian “A range of tactics have been used to combat the drones but few details have been released. One piece of equipment believed to have been deployed at the airport is the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can detect drones using radar. It can also jam communications between the drone and its operator, enabling authorities to take control of and land the drone.”

Police are interviewing two men

Well done the Army! Gatwick back up and running again.

I must admit that one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind was that there are bound to be some idiots out there who think 'That looks like a good laugh,I'll try that'. And before I get shot down in flames for thinking badly of my fellow humans,I think they are from the same mould as computer hackers,and people who send computer viruses,and I'm pretty sure that they get the idea planted in their heads by seeing others do it and getting away with it.