This Drone business

[fallen-archie]

Although yet to be clarified, The problems faced at Gatport Airwick seem to be blown out of proportion, were there drones or one drone, was it maliciously motivated if so what is that motivation, but possibly the most obvious question is why the damn thing/s were not shot down, surely in this day and age we should be able to deal with this minor threat more efficiently?

[cee-dee]

I'm astonished that it went on for so long. It has been filmed so why the heck couldn't they "follow it home"?

Also, there's surely plenty of experience in radio direction finding? It's not difficult to find what frequency the radio signals are using and then they can be traced with appropriate equipment?

Radio orienteering is a sport so surely something enjoyed by "amateurs" could have been employed in a better way by "professionals"?

[1956glyn]

From what i read......they could not risk shooting it down in case they missed.  There was a health and safety issue.....where would the bullet acually land and secondly if they hit it....  where would the drone land because Gatwick is so close to Crawley.

We must be more prepared in future for situations like this i totally agree.

[joe_bloggs*]

Annoying drone traced to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s mouth :

https://newsthump.com/2018/12/21/annoying-drone-traced-to-jacob-rees-moggs-mouth/

[astrologica]

What if the drone was carrying a chemical weapon....if they shot it down ..all of Gatwick would be contaminated. Just a tiny amount of Novichok caused havoc a few months ago..😕

[fallen-archie]

I know what you are saying about elf and safety, however given the prolific use of drones as a means of getting mobile phones and drugs etc into prisons surely there is something available to stop the abuse? What I still don’t understand is why it took so long to realise that the drone was no longer a threat, if it ain’t there then surely planes can fly?

[upthecreekyetagain]

It’s only the low end hobbyist’s drones that rely on radio signals - any of a higher spec are programmed to follow a pre-determined flight path and/or follow an object on the ground.  They are accurate within a foot or two both horizontally and vertically.

The drones that were spotted were flying above effective shotgun height and couldn’t be shot at with a rifle because of their range of more than a mile or two.

Who would want to be the one to say it’s safe to open the airport to then see a drone strike on an aircraft?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QH0V7kp-xg0

[upthecreekyetagain]

The sky above us has gone very quiet again - drone spotted - Gatwick closed.

[cee-dee]

Gatwick now open.

Looking at the flight of the one seen there, it hardly looked "pre-programmed". I'd go with it being radio-controlled.

[cee-dee]

Hardly "pre-programmed" if they've been doing this?:- ".........the pilots who used 'multiple' drones to shut down Gatwick's runway and even taunted officers by zooming over their heads while flashing lights at them."

[023mjc]

They can safely and accurately land a probe on a comet travelling at millions of light years a minute, millions of miles away.  Surely SOMEONE on this earth is clever enough to do SOMETHING about a drone.  While they are at it, maybe they could sort out Asda's bagging area.

[dark_castle1]

023, the impossible they can do , 2 arrests have been made regarding the criminal use of drones but as for Asda bagging area, miracles take a while longer.

[1956glyn]

I refuse to use any self service areas in supermarkets as if feel, rightly or wrongly,  i could be doing someone out of a job.....even if it does mean standing in line at a proper till for a while. 

[023mjc]

I agree - I always use the manned tills, but I had forgoten something and I just popped back in to get it.  I didn't want to stand in a queue again for another 45 minutes so thougt I'd quickly do it myself for once.   During the couple of minutes I was scanning and paying, I was told no less than 4 times that there was an  "unidentified object in the bagging area".

[upthecreekyetagain]

That’s why we have a real fire, so we can send the boy up it once a year to keep it clean.  He’d miss the sixpence we give him.

[fallen-archie]

Not forgetting the inevitable contribution to global warming👏😇6d seems a bit generous though, is he a relative?

[joe_bloggs*]

Hopefully they'll sue the Mail for ruining their christmas !

[upthecreekyetagain]

Now released without charge.

[cee-dee]

No-one would have known who they were if his boss hadn't spouted off.

[upthecreekyetagain]

The latest appears to be that there may not even have been any drones!

And they wouldn’t have been arrested if one of their neighbours hadn’t reported him for flying a drone he doesn’t own at a time when he was at work!