Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Something, possibly

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farnboroughrob
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by farnboroughrob »

I think there is much more to this story than has been revealed. I know Gatwick pretty well and , providing the operators are maintaining line of sight then there is aonly a limited area. As they have been seen over the permiter fence it has to be either on the south side or at either end. So the operator is either in a car park, or in one of the buildings on the south side. It sounds like they have a endurance issue so they have to go back to base for a change of battery so that is the weak spot. Now we have seen video from Afghanstan of the RAF Sentinels spotting stuff like people planting IED's from miles away? How about a few Apache's too, that might give them something to think about.
So basically it looks like they will not reopen until somebody is caught? Just make sure its open Saturday morning so I can go to Tenerife!

jules48
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by jules48 »

I cannot believe the total ineptitude of everyone involved.Its beyond stupid.I am lost for words that an International airport of Gatwick,s size does not have procedures in place to deal with this in a more organised way.What do they expect to happen.Every airborne plane is shot down by an unarmed drone.Get the airport open and let people travel.

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Dan O'Hagan
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Dan O'Hagan »

My hunch is that the drones are a cover story for an unspecified security incident or threat to the airport. Hard to think of many other ways to stop all flights in and out while the situation is dealt with.

No way on earth has one or a couple of invisible drones closed an international airport for 18 hours.

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Brevet Cable
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Brevet Cable »

vulcan558 wrote:Has any one posted a good picture of the Drones, they have been flying around for half a day or more and no pics or videos yet.with big media coverage since yesterday evening and flights up till lunchtime today.
I find it strange that no pics or videos are about.

Post #1043 on the PPRuNe topic ( https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/550269-drones-threatening-commercial-c-53.html#post10340480 ) ?
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Pen Pusher
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Pen Pusher »

Brevet Cable wrote:
vulcan558 wrote:Has any one posted a good picture of the Drones, they have been flying around for half a day or more and no pics or videos yet.with big media coverage since yesterday evening and flights up till lunchtime today.
I find it strange that no pics or videos are about.

Post #1043 on the PPRuNe topic ( https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/550269-drones-threatening-commercial-c-53.html#post10340480 ) ?


From the same post.
this pic is the NPAS Police Helo searching


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Brevet Cable
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Brevet Cable »

Yep, just seen that :up:
Teach me to read the image not the post it was in. :oops:
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Orion
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Orion »

I'm surprised that the drones are still airborne. Give the amount of police activity in the area I'd have thought that the operators would have cleared off by now. With or without their drones.

And why fly them at night? All very odd.

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Abbo46
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Abbo46 »

Now being reported the airport will remain closed until at least 9pm.

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pbeardmore
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by pbeardmore »

I think there are two issues. The drone issue and also, how poorly our airports deal with any issue like this. BBC reporter showing people queing 2 hours for a coffee!! and passengers bitterly frustrated with the lack of communication. We see these patterns everytime an airport is closed and they never seem to learn.

Like many things in the UK, everything is run on a shoestring with no spare capacity when required.

The longer the cat and mouse goes on, the more IMHO it looks like a calculated project rather than some silly joker. And the more our Police are made to look ineffective. Are the Army really being brought in? What would they bring to the fight? I assume that the drone(s) can be recovered to a van or car, recharged whilst relocating (or even home for a cupa?), re-programmed re gps (via laptop) and launched from a new location?
Last edited by pbeardmore on Thu 20 Dec 2018, 4:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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vulcan558
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by vulcan558 »

Cannot find any pics,
But the police helicopter was up and the drone would glow if viewed with its infra red or night camera and be easy
to follow it, they do get hot and would give off a heat signal,
Why I find it very strange that the copper choppers could not see or follow them all night,
And now the Army are being deployed to the airport.

So they will be using an Howitzer and barrage balloons later on then.

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Brevet Cable
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Brevet Cable »

Plod have admitted defeat & called in the Army.
'12 RA' for total overkill ? :whistle:

( https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/royal-artillery/12th-regiment-royal-artillery/ )

vulcan558 wrote:So they will be using an Howitzer and barrage balloons later on then.

Nah.....Starstreak HVMs :biggrin:
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Ken Shabby
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Ken Shabby »

Dan O'Hagan wrote:My hunch is that the drones are a cover story for an unspecified security incident or threat to the airport. Hard to think of many other ways to stop all flights in and out while the situation is dealt with.

No way on earth has one or a couple of invisible drones closed an international airport for 18 hours.


Agree - I will be at lot more convinced about what's actually happening at Gatwick when someone releases a picture of the bloody things that isn't either smudge on a lens or an unspecified light in the sky.

And if it is drones, then the CAA or whoever has really been caught with its pants down here. Ever since drones have become an 'issue' for airports, an event like this has been on the cards. It's clear, however, from the Fred Karno's Army antics currently going on at Gatwick that not even a basic plan has been put in place to cope with it at even the most basic level.
Ken

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pbeardmore
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by pbeardmore »

Don't worry. I'm sure "lessons will be learned" as the cliche goes.
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vulcan558
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by vulcan558 »

Get a pair or more of Typhoons to do a show of force over Gatwick, then some tight turning and burning in the night sky.
Have a Sentinel or Sentry up above monitoring .

vulcan558
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by vulcan558 »

Ken Shabby wrote:
Dan O'Hagan wrote:My hunch is that the drones are a cover story for an unspecified security incident or threat to the airport. Hard to think of many other ways to stop all flights in and out while the situation is dealt with.

No way on earth has one or a couple of invisible drones closed an international airport for 18 hours.


Agree - I will be at lot more convinced about what's actually happening at Gatwick when someone releases a picture of the bloody things that isn't either smudge on a lens or an unspecified light in the sky.

And if it is drones, then the CAA or whoever has really been caught with its pants down here. Ever since drones have become an 'issue' for airports, an event like this has been on the cards. It's clear, however, from the Fred Karno's Army antics currently going on at Gatwick that not even a basic plan has been put in place to cope with it at even the most basic level.

To be honest it's really a job for the RAF, they supposed to be protecting our air space, and it looks likes TOY''s , R, US.
Have truly shafted us. :lmao:

Ken Shabby
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Ken Shabby »

Paddy Power is currently offering the following odds for who's responsible:

4/9 Putin
Evens People's Vote
2/1 No Fracking in Sussex Group
4/1 Black Lives Matter
5/1 Vulcan Thread Back on Aviation Waffle Now! Campaign
7/1 Save The Earthworm
10/1 Bring Back Spangles
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Brevet Cable
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Brevet Cable »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46638323

he US justice department has indicted two Chinese men accused of hacking into the computer networks of companies and government agencies in Western countries.

The pair are allegedly part of a "hacking group" known as Advanced Persistent Threat 10, affiliated with China's main intelligence service.

They have not been arrested.

The UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden were also reportedly targeted.

The UK government said it was joining allies in holding the Chinese government responsible for a global campaign targeting commercial secrets.


There ya go....it's the Chinese!
They obviously hacked some poor blokes' drones when they weren't looking. :ninja:
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jules48
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by jules48 »

Probably an underground bunker in Siberia.Why cant the police find the drone operators ffs.

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Dan O'Hagan
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Dan O'Hagan »

You don’t hold a COBRA meeting and send in the army for a couple of blokes with an Argos My First Mini-Helicopter...

Ken Shabby
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Ken Shabby »

Dan O'Hagan wrote:You don’t hold a COBRA meeting and send in the army for a couple of blokes with an Argos My First Mini-Helicopter...


16:49 Government has announced that the Army is deploying "specialist equipment" to Gatwick. If this is something sinister then you wonder what it is.

But if it is just to deal with drones, why on earth has it taken 20 hours to realise this situation needs to be dealt with properly and that a Police helicopter that can't spot anything and armed Police, driving around in fast cars with guns they can't use, isn't going to work?

Sorry, I'm sure people are trying their best but ... Cue the Benny Hill music ...
Ken

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pbeardmore
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by pbeardmore »

soup kitchens? according the the beeb, retail outlets are runnning out of food

the whole thing is turning into a shambles (Up two three, bang two three, bang two three)

Anyone remember in 2003 when Blair sent tanks into Heathrow?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2849829.stm
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jules48
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by jules48 »

Might as well close it until next year,transfer everyone to alternative airports and pay for new flights for everyone and then they will go bust.Problem solved.

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Abbo46
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Abbo46 »

EasyJet have now cancelled all flights due in/out of LGW today and they expect the disruption to continue well into tomorrow.

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boff180
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by boff180 »

Brevet Cable wrote:
He said police had not wanted to shoot the devices down because of the risk from stray bullets.


Jesus wept....did the Police really say that !! :facepalm:
If so, someone needs to have a long hard chat with them for even considering it in the first place ( or has some Senior Officer been watching too many Hollywood movies )


I'm actually all for the "blow the drone out of the sky" scenario. However a rifle is not the right tool for the very reason they've highlighted, a bullet dropping to the ground at terminal velocity is lethal (and holding enough energy to punch through airliner skin).

A shotgun however.... size 8 birdshot has a relatively low terminal velocity and wouldn't cause much of an issue - apart from a FOD clear on the runway.
Get someone up in a helicopter... come alongside... take it out. Simple.

Ken Shabby
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Re: Gatwick Airport Closed Due to Drones

Post by Ken Shabby »

Brevet Cable wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46638323

he US justice department has indicted two Chinese men accused of hacking into the computer networks of companies and government agencies in Western countries.

The pair are allegedly part of a "hacking group" known as Advanced Persistent Threat 10, affiliated with China's main intelligence service.

They have not been arrested.

The UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden were also reportedly targeted.

The UK government said it was joining allies in holding the Chinese government responsible for a global campaign targeting commercial secrets.


There ya go....it's the Chinese!
They obviously hacked some poor blokes' drones when they weren't looking. :ninja:


Ah yes, the Chinese - that would be the nation that wants to buy a controlling interest in our nuclear power stations.

Are the drones still flying? Any photos yet? The Police cracked out some shots they'd taken using one of their helicopter's infra red cameras on Police Camera Action the other night, showing a bloke who'd stolen some fags hiding under a hedge at midnight, so presumably one of a drone flying over an airport won't be a problem. No? Nothing?
Ken

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