Gatwick Airport: Drone sightings cause delays

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Is that correct it hovered for 14 hours ?

The only source I can find that says that is the post above.

originally posted by: UmbertoEccoThe term "Drone" is all over the UK media...no mention of "UFO", which it is.

Sure these are UFOs but the media will never admit it

As of 20:33 pm. the UK Government has gone silent on the matter. Chris Grayling, Transportation Minister released several statements as to the "altered" states of the possible drones given the longevity of hover times...then the BBC reprorted a cross Party meeting held at Whitehall regarding the matter with the report of the UK Military being deployed soon after....Theresa May, the Prime Minister released a statement assuring the Public that this matter was definitly "not terrorist related" (?)...as if how was that determined?......now....crickets...Gatwick still closed and press releases stating "do not come to Gatwick tomorrow".......

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Certainly LOOKS like a drone....but with increadible capabilities...lol

a reply to: UmbertoEcco
What I'm struggling is with how can the operator know exactly when for example a police helicopter takes off. I've seen the imaging cameras on those things they can zoom in pretty far and pick up quite some detail. I'm failing to grasp how the drone operator can react quicker that a police helicopter camera operator. I've seen the footage of police helicopters picking up vehicles along a road from a few miles but a helicopter can't track the drone, despite it being the only object airborne. And if they know it disappears why haven't they got observers with sone high powered optics to watch it descend. Might not be able to get the right location but if they can observe it land is a rough location that narrows things down

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Is that correct it hovered for 14 hours ?

The only source I can find that says that is the post above.

Yeah I get what you're saying

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker Well, one thing is for certain...the UK handles these kinds of incidents a LOT differently that we woulkd in the US. Over here, if there is a highway accident, they close the entire motorway (interstate) FOR DAYS sometimes just to do routine police work....especially if someone were killed. Perhaps this is just a total overreaction typical to the British regarding health and safety. In the US, some cop would have blown the thing out of the air with a 12 gauge by now IF it truely is a "drone".

Chris Grayling, Transportation Minister released a statement earlier before going radio silent that the "drones" must have been substantially altered" because of earlier statements by gatwick officials that the drones had been observed over the airfield for over 14 hours except for the few minutes when they dissapeared when the police choppers approached. Since, this press release, nothing has been released regarding flight characteristics except by tabloids which have provided timelines based soley on Gatwick statements regarding closing times of runways....

I've just never heard of an incident where an airport has been shut down for almost 24 hours because of a drone in the area. Oh well we shall see what comes of it

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

The problem is that the things keep landing then popping up.

If it had been a one shot appearance that would be one thing, but it wasn't.

There is something odd about this.

British companies have developed an anti-drone device years ago.

Why isn't it being used ?

An anti-drone system developed by a trio of UK companies is to receive its first public test by America’s Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), in an effort to protect airports from the risks of hobbyist unmanned aerial vehicles. The system, called the Anti-UAV Defence System (Auds), looks like a mounted turret but instead of shooting drones out of the sky with bullets, it fires nothing more menacing than radio waves

Auds has three barrels of descending sizes, which act as a set of directional radio antennas. The portion of the radio spectrum used by drones is narrow, and so a short, loud (in electromagnetic terms) blast of energy is enough to completely prevent the drone from being able to communicate with its controller.

Conventional multidirectional jamming systems work on drones, but have the downside of preventing the use of anything else in the area that relies on the same portion of the radio spectrum, such as mobile phones.

www.theguardian.com...

a reply to: alldaylong

The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers says it has urged geofencing — the use of software to stop drones flying into restricted airspace — and other counter-drone measures, but its calls “have been repeatedly dismissed by regulatory bodies.”

source

Perhaps a disgruntled ATC seeking action?

a reply to: Phage


I have no knowledge of drones. So a question for you.

Can i drone be flown by an operator who is concealed inside a building?

a reply to: alldaylong

Yup. A friend of mine does it while using his TV set to view.


(not my friend)

a reply to: Phage

That could well answer why this particular operator or operators have been difficult to locate.

Thank you for that.

Some sort of mini triple A may be required. I bagsy the job.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

I identified the drone as DJI Mavic.
The battery life is around 22-25 minutes and can travel 5-7 km depending on the topography.
The culprits must have an in-car charger or good stack of batteries.

This has supposedly been seen for 14 hours, they're claiming some kind of modification to explain that, is this possible?

Where have you seen a pic or footage? None of our news channels are showing any or any pics and none I have found online

Last I heard the airport was shut until 7pm at least but the "drone" sightings have continued. Its been seen 50 times today..

This is all very odd

I live about ten minutes from Gatwick and know this area very well.The video shot by a passenger on a plane that shows just a light in the sky almost certainly puts it over an industrial estate to the South of the airport in a village called Lowfield Heath.There are a lot of different types of warehouse here,some of which are unoccupied last time I drove past it.It wouldn't be at all difficult for the operator to be hiding in one of these buildings and be flying the drones in and out of a hole in the roof,or even by opening a skylight.Or even the old hotel which has been empty for a lot of years now.
I'm sure the local Police would have thought of this by now,wouldn't they?

Any more photos?