Drones at Gatwick

One of the runways has had flights suspended again, apparently.
Another drone.

School kid? Someone free at weekend, and earky evening

Ellen Oh no......

David I bow to your much greater knowledge over drone batteries.

Planes grounded again at Gatwick.

The drone is back.

Clutching at straws sparklefizz wireless charging is very short range stuff not a moving drone
Even with 2 million of pounds worth of kit they didn't catch the drone, let's hope they do by other intelligence.

On Twitter it’s being posted that the police have identified person/persons of interest, regarding the drone affair.

Fennel Very interesting article, but I do sometimes wonder why we publicise all our secrets, don't you?

Davidhs I believe there's such a thing as "wireless recharging".

I really hope we get to eventually know ' the truth ' behind this because the conspiracy theorists are going crazy!

OK explain how they change the batteries, they have been appearing for a while, going away then returning
Hard to pinpoint a mobile phone signal amongst thousands unless you know the number.
The military could shoot it down but too much risk of collateral damage, it's not a war zone.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6519211/The-2-6m-Israeli-Drone-Dome-Army-used-defeat-Gatwick-UAV.html"

David I don't think they are being piloted by local hackers to cause mayhem. If they were, I think they would have been caught by now.

I think Annodomini is right with what she says -

^annodomini Thu 20-Dec-18 21:17:18
Military drones are piloted from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from the target. That's how the US has bombed targets in Syria, is it not? Who is to say that the perpetrator of this act of sabotage is actually in this country? Or is this notion too far-fetched?^

The drones are being controlled from close to the airfield, probably from a car or van that keeps moving or even continuously moving. It has been suggested that the batteries can be bypassed, not sure how you would do that in a drone flying a couple of miles away.
So they have to be close enough to change batteries, they control it with a smart phone app, probably one they have written or modified themselves, it is GPS guided and will fly back to the operator automatically wherever he is.
This is hard to stop because it uses mobile phone signals and there are thousands coming out of Gatwick

Probably not a Eco warrior just a hacker who wants to cause mayhem. He has had his fun and will vanish, until the next time.

It is being said that drones will bring great benefit to society - well, it will be a long time before the cost of this chaos is recouped, not to mention the prison drone issue.

^annodomini Thu 20-Dec-18 21:17:18
Military drones are piloted from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from the target. That's how the US has bombed targets in Syria, is it not? Who is to say that the perpetrator of this act of sabotage is actually in this country? Or is this notion too far-fetched?^

I think you're right anno. It's not too far-fetched at all.
The drones are not being flown by some lads in a field adjacent to the runway!!

Planes are now starting to fly into and out of Gatwick. I would think something has happened to make security feel confident this is safe to do.

It’s a plot by No 10 to draw attention away from Brexit chaos surely?

Did I just imagine it, or did the R4 midnight news really say that there is no actual film footage of the drone?

It's all very odd.

Aviation tracker shows that plane is now at a standstill.

Which makes me wonder why they are unable to track the drones.

I expect at the moment they just do not know which radio frequency the drones are using
Or there are several drones all with different radio frequency

Apart from terrorists, they could be used to blackmail organisations and governments - and isn't there the potential that they could carry dangerous materials. Can't they just ban the sale of drones to private individuals?

Exactly varian

There are solutions in place at other airports in other countries. BBC news tonight was interviewing someone in aviation who says the government is, yet again, ‘consulting’ and nothing gets done.

They have been warned time and time again.

Last I heard it is an environmentalist group. My son and family live near Gatwick and are/were supposed to be flying from there to Scotland for Christmas.
There has been a lot on the radio about Lockerbie this week as it is the 30th anniversary of the plane crash. Today one drone manned by a child, possibly in all innocence, let alone by some psychopath, could potentially do as much damage as that bomb. They should not be sold as toys and should all be traceable by some sort of microchip. Anyone found misusing one near an airport or any sort of transport should be charged with attempted murder with the appropriate sentence for that crime.
I used to live near Gatwick, there are lots of towns and villages quite close to it. Apart from Heathrow, I imagine all our airports have fields between them and a built up area. The perimeter is obviously vast but not beyond the possibility of being monitored by the military, who I gather have been drafted in. Could they jam it from a spyplane? Perhaps we need the Wimbledon Hawk.

Ezi9046

Post on MN Luton plane is taxing down the (Gatwick) runway.

I believe that other countries have made plans to cope sith drone nuisance and there are technological solutions. I just wish they would tell our unbelievably imcompetent Minster for Transport Chris Grayling.

These insane computer buffs are ahead of others when it comes to technology. It's probably a home-built drone.

I can't believe that nobody has come up with anything to intercept it--- we're a laughing stock !