Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Something, possibly

[MiG_Eater]

Something about this just doesn't ring true at all.

It should not be difficult to disable the drone, find the pilots or for the drones to just run out of battery power. I get the distinct feeling there's something more to this.

[Marathon Milkshake]

Agreed all seems to be smoke and mirrors. Airliner landed with some form of plague perhaps? Ebola, maybe? Perhaps its just some silly teenager getting their rocks off and having a laugh?

[minnie the moocher]

Something about this just doesn't ring true at all.

nothing about this rings true - I suppose in time whatever this is covering will all come out - but until then guess everybody will just have to settle for speculation

[boff180]

Something about this just doesn't ring true at all.

It should not be difficult to disable the drone, find the pilots or for the drones to just run out of battery power. I get the distinct feeling there's something more to this.

This is just a symptom of the civilian security services being massively under funded through austerity.

They don’t have the money to invest in the kit or the man power or the training they need to handle every scenario so have to cherry pick which ones they are prepared for, and which ones they aren’t.

Someone or some group (this stinks of a certain group known for performing environmental terrorism) is doing this and making a laughing stock of those protecting us as a result. When it’s not really their fault.

I’ll happily come and shoot it down in return for BA and Virgin giving me first class flights at economy prices for the rest of my life.

[Euan Buchan]

Heard about this yesterday bizarre

[cg_341]

I'd be surprised if you hadn't.

[BDL]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/mozdog94/status/1075852521544011777[/tweet]

[Airshowhammer]

Major systems failure. To avoid all the compo claims just send a man up with a little flying toy.

[CJS]

Something about this just doesn't ring true at all.

It should not be difficult to disable the drone, find the pilots or for the drones to just run out of battery power. I get the distinct feeling there's something more to this.

This is just a symptom of the civilian security services being massively under funded through austerity.

They don’t have the money to invest in the kit or the man power or the training they need to handle every scenario so have to cherry pick which ones they are prepared for, and which ones they aren’t.

Someone or some group (this stinks of a certain group known for performing environmental terrorism) is doing this and making a laughing stock of those protecting us as a result. When it’s not really their fault.

I’ll happily come and shoot it down in return for BA and Virgin giving me first class flights at economy prices for the rest of my life.

And then do as your avatar suggests to the fool who did it in the first place (assuming of course the conspiracy theories don't turn out to be correct!).

[Euan Buchan]

Gatwick Airport has now reopened

[CJS]

Had to chuckle at the caption, "Extra "mitigating measures" from the government, police and military have allowed Gatwick to reopen," accompanying a photo of three blokes standing on the roof



yes, I can see the large camera too, it was a joke...

[Joe Spares]

Gotta admit, nothing will get past that giant pair of binos they got.....they can stare it into submission through those

[Ken Shabby]

The drone operator hasn't been caught but hopefully they've had their fun and the airport can get back to normal (this assuming, of course, that there isn't a 'back story' to what's been going on).

Police Commander Justin Burtenshaw has been quoted as saying: "I'm convinced this is a deliberate act to disrupt Gatwick". Really? And there we were thinking it was all an accident.

[minnie the moocher]

A few genuine questions as I don't know that much about drones - other than they are a menace to other air users in the wrong hands.
as they were first seen at night they were presumably lit? If the weren't lit then how were they seen and how did whoever was piloting them keep track of where they were or where they had landed
as they are battery powered then wouldn't they produce heat? and wouldn't the heat produced be visible on a thermographic camera, ie one carried on a police helicopter. Would that make them easier to locate or follow back to landing site at night rather than during the day?

[T_J]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MIaSHpoNzE[/youtube]

Video with sound and still images at following links

https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/20/first-fo ... t-8271026/

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

[T_J]

A few genuine questions as I don't know that much about drones - other than they are a menace to other air users in the wrong hands.
as they were first seen at night they were presumably lit? If the weren't lit then how were they seen and how did whoever was piloting them keep track of where they were or where they had landed
as they are battery powered then wouldn't they produce heat? and wouldn't the heat produced be visible on a thermographic camera, ie one carried on a police helicopter. Would that make them easier to locate or follow back to landing site at night rather than during the day?

The person controlling the drone(s) could be miles away or in say a back of a van. No doubt the person controlling them is seeing a feed back to a screen or perhaps they are pre-programmed? Perhaps for night flights the camera is night vision capable?

Video showing feed back to TV.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8_FduQ_eOE[/youtube]

Night vision camera on drone.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUi0Bu2MxDI[/youtube]

[T_J]

Had to chuckle at the caption, "Extra "mitigating measures" from the government, police and military have allowed Gatwick to reopen," accompanying a photo of three blokes standing on the roof



yes, I can see the large camera too, it was a joke...

The piece of equipment that you can see on the left is part of the Israeli developed Rafael Drone Dome. The British Army bought the system for use against ISIS drones in Syria.

The Daily Mail actually has a good article outlining the various components of the system on the roof.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... 0&ito=1490

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

[farnboroughrob]

To me one of the easiest ways would have been to disable it with the downwash of a helicopter? There were three Police helis at Gatwick all day yesterday and the drone appeared 50 times! Or were they not allowed to due to H&S? Like other people I think there is something else going on? Anyway just keep it open until about 7 am tomorrow so I can go away. Droneymcdroneyface will be welcome back on Jan 5th so I don't have to come back!

[vulcan558]

Looking at that video I would say its a DJI Phantom, I own a Phantom 3 pro.
So have a idea how they look at distance. But could be wrong.

[jingernut]

To me one of the easiest ways would have been to disable it with the downwash of a helicopter?

Sure... then the drone quickly moves and smashes into the tail / main rotor. Great tactic

[T_J]

Recent footage on Sky News shows that METIS Aerospace's SKYPERION Counter UAV Solution has also been deployed at Gatwick.

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

Recently tested at Southend Airport.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqAUlgGTQek[/youtube]

[K1200s]

Interesting no group has claimed responsibily.....more scary, if this drone or drones was able to release some sort of nerve agent?

Something is not right, as other posters have said

[Abbo46]

Potentially closed again, all inbounds holding.

[Tom105]

Looks like some inbounds are diverting there is quite a few aircraft holding.

[Abbo46]

Confirmed drone sighting, here we go again..

Luton accepting a number of flights.