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More Drones - London Gatwick Airport shutdown!


Moon The Loon

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All operations cancelled until 4pm local today. I have friends trying to get out and they are being bussed to Birmingham as that is where their Air Transat flight diverted to.   Crazy. 

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CNN................

The UK's second-busiest airport is open again after it closed for 32 hours due to a group of lingering drones. But the problems are far from over for stranded and delayed holiday travelers. About 110,000 passengers and 760 flights were affected, and it looks like most people won't get compensated for cancelled or delayed flights since two days of drone chaos is probably an "an extraordinary circumstance" that exempts airlines from paying out. The big questions now are: Who was flying those drones and why? Sussex Police are investigating. They say the disruption was deliberate but not likely terror-related.

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This is serious stuff; it looks a lot more like a test by terrorists than an unfortunate prank as police are suggesting.

The event could be providing the perp(s) with an opportunity to observe how the authorities respond to the threat and learn where system weaknesses exist that can be exploited later on and at any location.

 

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11 minutes ago, conehead said:

Some possible solutions:

Gatwick airport: How countries counter the drone threat http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46639099

Well I was going to suggest extendable pool skimmer poles, each with one of these big nets on the end.  A few ground guys running around and each equipped with one of those  may not solve the problem but it might be good for a few laughs and breaking the tension in the airport.

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9 hours ago, Specs said:

Well I was going to suggest extendable pool skimmer poles, each with one of these big nets on the end.  A few ground guys running around and each equipped with one of those  may not solve the problem but it might be good for a few laughs and breaking the tension in the airport.

Especially if done to the Benny Hill theme song. 

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On 12/21/2018 at 7:57 PM, Ex 9A Guy said:

A few well-placed shotgun shells or medium calibre bullets should cause serious controllability issues and/or terminal flight trajectory.

Nope, but welcome Archimedes' death ray. 

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57 minutes ago, conehead said:

What happened to Wolfhunter’s comments?

Sorry for any confusion, I deleted them as I’ve decided to refrain from further comment on the topic. I’m hopeful other UAV/UAS operators will also, IMO, there is already too much open source reporting on the matter. Cheers

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Hell, close enough - hang 'em.

Quote

'Mr Gait was a model helicopter enthusiast who had been seen flying remote-controlled aircraft from his home in Crawley, West Sussex - two miles from the airport. His dad Francis, 72, said before his son's release: “He’s had some cracking helicopters and enjoyed flying them, but I think he ended up selling them. "He had them ages ago. It’ll be a year or two. I can’t believe Paul’s involved in this, I just can’t. The times this thing was flying in the daylight – when Paul was at work.'

“I think they’re just dying to pin it on somebody. I can’t believe for one minute it’s true. It’s just mad."

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  • 2 weeks later...
January 3, 2019 / 11:19 AM / Updated 23 minutes ago

Gatwick and Heathrow airports order military-grade anti-drone equipment: The Times

 
 

1 Min Read

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FILE PHOTO: An airplane takes off at Gatwick Airport, after the airport reopened to flights following its forced closure because of drone activity, in Gatwick, Britain, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

(Reuters) - London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports have ordered military-grade anti-drone defenses worth “several million pounds” after drones caused three days of disruption at Gatwick last month, the Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

Transport minister Chris Grayling met police, aviation and defense chiefs early on Thursday to discuss the issue, the report bit.ly/2R6mmmN said.

The airports did not immediately comment on the report.

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