Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Something, possibly

[Abbo46]

Open again. How long until the next closure?

[minnie the moocher]

at a guess the next time somebody sees something or even thinks they see something

[Pen Pusher]

Probably an owl out hunting.

Brian

[skyhigh]

Perhaps drone experts could advise.
On the assumption the drone (s) have been programmed to fly a predetermined route and returns to where it started from, in which the operator is not in the immediate vicinity of LGW.
It's only a matter of time before someone notices it flying over their house/garden.
We keep getting reports of the drone being seen over LGW but not anywhere else! Unless the drone is being launched from a remote location such as field, country lanes ETC, where it wouldn’t be seen on the way to LGW and back to its original starting position.

[CJS]

Which, if I was doing it, is exactly what I'd do. I think it's fairly likely this isn't being operated from someone's garden.

[pbeardmore]

Unlike Heathrow, there are many little country lanes etc in the area that would provide options. Also, (happy to be corrected) , these locations could be visited in advance to check out suitability and obtain the required GPS details to enable them to be pre-programmed.

Another question, do any have timing devices so that they could be left, the owner drives off and a couple of minutes later, the drone takes off?

[CJS]

I grew up close to Gatwick and yes, it would be relatively easy to get close, or at least it would have been 20 years ago; perhaps that's changed now!

[chipmunk22]

I cannot believe this is happening !
If our airspace cannot be defended against a radio controlled toy,what chance do we have should a real threat appear.
Does this thing not appear on radar ??
Why can ECM not be used to jam the control signal ?

Shoot the bloody thing down !!

I suppose `elf n safety crap snookers all these options
Absolutely pathetic.
If they catch the scumbag doing this,probably get a slapped wrist,because it is his `Human Right` Blah Blah Blah

[minnie the moocher]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46657505

[Stagger2]

A interesting snippet extracted from the linked BBC article above The airport said it aimed to run "a full schedule" of 757 flights on Saturday, carrying 124,484 passengers
Perhaps if they also used 737, triple Sevens & Airbus jets they could clear the backlog quicker?

[T_J]

I cannot believe this is happening !
If our airspace cannot be defended against a radio controlled toy,what chance do we have should a real threat appear.
Does this thing not appear on radar ??
Why can ECM not be used to jam the control signal ?

Shoot the bloody thing down !!

I suppose `elf n safety crap snookers all these options
Absolutely pathetic.
If they catch the scumbag doing this,probably get a slapped wrist,because it is his `Human Right` Blah Blah Blah

Follow the thread. The answers to your questions have all been posted.

The Army have deployed the recently bought Israeli Drone Dome system at Gatwick and some UK companies have also deployed equipment.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... k-UAV.html

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... em-424095/

http://metisaerospace.com/skyperion-counter-uav/

[pbeardmore]

It would be nice to compile a list of sugestions from the public re how the drones could be stopped. Iv'e read some corkers over the last couple of days.

[T_J]

The couple arrested on suspicion of the Gatwick drone attack are a husband and wife from Crawley, the Telegraph can reveal.

Paul Gait, 47, and his wife Elaine Kirk, 54, were detained by police at their detached home in West Sussex at around 10pm on Friday night.

Father of two, Mr Gait, who works as a window fitter, is understood to be a drone enthusiast who also flew remote control helicopters.

But his boss insisted he had been working when the drone attacks were taking place and said he would be shocked if he had anything to do with the incident.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/1 ... -revealed/

[Brevet Cable]

The couple arrested on suspicion of the Gatwick drone attack are a

husband and wife...
Paul Gait, 47, and his wife Elaine Kirk

Guilty as sin for that alone - send them down.

[Gonzo230]

It would be nice to compile a list of sugestions from the public re how the drones could be stopped. Iv'e read some corkers over the last couple of days.

Likewise. It’s embarrassing.

[skyhigh]

Can drones be configured to fly a programmed route at a specific time, similar to setting an alarm clock?
This would allow the owner to be somewhere else thus providing a plausible alibi.

Just because someone is a drone enthusiast and lives near the LGW, doesn’t mean to say they are the culprits.
The police presumably have “cause” to make an arrest.

[vulcan558]

Can drones be configured to fly a programmed route at a specific time, similar to setting an alarm clock?
This would allow the owner to be somewhere else thus providing a plausible alibi.

Just because someone is a drone enthusiast and lives near the LGW, doesn’t mean to say they are the culprits.
The police presumably have “cause” to make an arrest.

Would take a few minutes to look at the flight log of the Drone if they have found it.
Looking at the house of the suspects the Neighbors would no when a drone was flying, they are not quiet.
Unless this couple was going out to a field and coming and going.

[pbeardmore]

To flip that, without the flight log from the drone or a confession, what evidence do the police need in order to charge them? Surely, wiping the flight log is the 1st thing you do when you get home? or not keep the drone at home.

[boff180]

To flip that, without the flight log from the drone or a confession, what evidence do the police need in order to charge them? Surely, wiping the flight log is the 1st thing you do when you get home? or not keep the drone at home.

It's not that easy to wipe flash memory, unless they've used a specialist program or have ensured they have overwritten every single last byte they will be able to recover the deleted data.

[Brevet Cable]

Media have been reporting the bloke's boss as saying he was at work when the drones were being flown (seems a bit strange having a window fitter working nights, unless he's an on-call automotive window fitter)...are they still reporting this?

[pbeardmore]

The boss claims he started at 7.45 and worked late so he is talking about the sightings during the day.

Re the memory issue, I'm not aware if the logs can be stored exclusively on SD card so rather than wipe the memory , you just remove the card and hide it or destory it given how cheap they are?

[Ewart]

The police presumably have “cause” to make an arrest.

s.24 PACE - allows a Police Constable who has reasonable grounds to suspect a person of committing an offence the power to arrest said person without a warrant.

No 'cause' I think that's an American thing.

[skyhigh]

Put another way as the terminology I used has resulted in a response!!!!
Replacing the word “cause” with the word “reason”
The police presumably had “reason” to make an arrest”

[McG]

In years past, if what is being reported in this article is true, ministerial heads would have rolled. With this shambles of an incompetent government, highly unlikely.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... twick.html

[106500]

In years past, if what is being reported in this article is true, ministerial heads would have rolled. With this shambles of an incompetent government, highly unlikely.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... twick.html

The 'Fail' and truth - an oxymoron if I've ever seen one!