Drones at Gatwick Airport

[endofthelinefinally]

Whole airport is shut down. It is chaos and the police can't bring the drone over the runway down.

Bored workplace office gossip theories: environmentalists or people protesting at deportation flights.

I hope they catch them - and throw them into the airport (with all the passed off travellers) and lock the doors.

This is scary. A few drones and the airport is standstill. I can see a film in this. I feel for all the people waiting to see loved ones.

Airports should be equipped with anti-drone kits (available but apparently expensive). As it is a cost, the airports will wait until a disaster happens or the government legislates that they must have it.

After this debacle, I do hope the government will legislate airports must equip to operate.

Or the companies that build the drones can add a ‘kill switch’. I see drones (huge buggers, cost thousands of pounds, used for legitimate work purposes in industry) at shows - next time I go to one I’m going to ask if this can do done to the hobby ones that these arses get their hands on.

The kill switch presumes the drones are operated by newbs. What is happening in Gatwick is a carefully planned operation using industrial drones. The people doing this will bypass the switch I fear.

But a kill switch would help with the hobbyists.

What's a kill switch?

I’m thinking about how there is a doodah (technical term) that can jam mobile phones - so useful for areas where you really shouldnt use a mobile - so why not something to zap the fucking drones. Grrrrrrrr.

Gatwick shut until am now!

There was something on the news that said that while the technology is available to create an invisible anti-drone "fence" at airports, the legislation isn't in place in the UK for them to be used.

There is however legislation banning their use in airport airspace, which obviously has been/was considered sufficient until now.

What I don't understand is how my colleague has to have a licence to fly one for work but anyone off the street can buy one and fly it. Surely there should be a licence and registration requirement for all?

unbelievable that someone would want to cause such chaos.
is this terrorism?

My guess is an extremist environmental group.

It's aliens. Small aliens.

People are forgetting about the people trying to get back to Gatwick, apart from those obviously trying to leave from Gatwick.
Despicable.

Signal jammers are not the sort of thing you want around airports.

Hopefully when they are caught they will have assets so they can pay some of the damages.

I personally think they've had a very credible security threat and the drone story is a cover.

Either way, those people are safer on the ground regardless of whatever they are missing over the next few days.

Me too catniss

I’m sold that this is a cover story.
They are trying not to cause mass
Panic and have found something out I believe. They would have netted that drone or
Shot
It down in a flash.

Thousands of people gathering to celebrate a Christian holiday.. too convenient.

I wouldn’t be a sitting duck in that airport as it got busier, that’s for sure.

Re opened.
I dont believe it is a cover story

How unbelievable scary if you are a passenger though

They need to employ other drone pilots to chase/follow the drone back to base. A police helicopter is never going to be agile enough to do so, drone will nip behind the helicopter and disappear before the chopper has turned round. If they got ten decent drone pilots stood there ready to go and they all stalked it that would have more chance.

The weird thing is I drove round the back of the airport to go shopping yesterday. There's a country road around the perimeter, backing on to the end of the runway. I nearly went the main road way as I envisaged it either being shut or chockablock with police, media etc but then habit made me take my normal route. When I got there it was empty. I went all around the edge of the airport and encountered one police car and one airport security car. No media or police in the lay-bys that a lot of plane spotters usually use. Nothing. This was about 11am and it was the same on my return journey a few hours later bar the lone police helicopter hovering over. I found it all really strange.

We all love a conspiracy theory but often the most simple explanation is the right one. I don't think this is a cover story for something else. Or rather, I think the secret/conspiracy if you want is who the drone operators are. I suspect that they are not Joe Bloggs from down the road but special agents from a government known to disrupt/hack into Western countries to assess how soft they are / assert its potential military superiority.

How odd Bobcat14! You think the police would swarm the surrounding area, even road block so they could check cars for suspicious behaviour.

Strange.

They have reopened but not found the drone. I dont think I would want to fly today.