Gatwick airport closed by drones

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Master Geek
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#2148760 21-Dec-2018 12:04

gzt: My money's on some guy with some crazy random beef..

I dare say that we'll see the same shenanigans at Heathrow soon; there's enough people who hate the place because of their 4am flights and the constant noise. Transport agencies around the world urgently need to develop capability to monitor and take down drones around airports and other secure areas.

mdf

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#2148778 21-Dec-2018 12:24

Most technologies seem to focus on signal jamming.

Boeing seems to have some sci-fi geeks though:

mdf

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#2148780 21-Dec-2018 12:27

This looks rather impressive too:

EDIT: Bah, image didn't work. Follow the link.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/07/drone-death-ray-device-liteye-auds

wratterus

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#2148781 21-Dec-2018 12:29

I'm genuinely surprised they don't just shoot the thing down.

Or failing that surely there is signal jamming tech to make it fall out of the sky, or land itself.

amiga500

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#2148782 21-Dec-2018 12:32

mdf:

This looks rather impressive too:

EDIT: Bah, image didn't work. Follow the link.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/07/drone-death-ray-device-liteye-auds

Most airport companies would rather build two new parking buildings, three new hotels, & refurbish their retail areas than to spend up on gear like that!

muppet

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#2148800 21-Dec-2018 12:46

Samsung

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ResponseMediaNZ

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Ultimate Geek
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#2148801 21-Dec-2018 12:49

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46639182 < Adding to the questions about whats actually going on

shk292

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#2148803 21-Dec-2018 12:51

wratterus:

I'm genuinely surprised they don't just shoot the thing down.

Except, if it stays outside of shotgun range, you need to use a rifle. And with a high-angle shot, you have no idea where the bullet will land but the London airports are surrounded by habitation so it's a good chance it will land on someone, or at least a house/car/etc.

I see a case for a hunter-killer drone that can reliably home on and crash into a target drone, or fire a net. This wouldn't seem too difficult with modern tech. I'm actually surprised that airports don't have such things

loceff13

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#2148812 21-Dec-2018 13:07

Hard to take down a drone if it's just flying pre set gps co-ordinates and set to not listen to ground controls(yes you can do this on some models) which makes signal jamming or hijacking useless. Surprised its taken this long for someone to do it at a airport for an extended period, if thats indeed the case.

dafman

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#2148834 21-Dec-2018 13:43

If they shoot it down, doesn't the job of finding the culprit just get a whole lot harder? I reckon they are happy to keep it airborne to improve their odds of tracking down the pilot.

And pilot must be within close vicinity as drones have been airborne for longer than a standard charge, so someone is changing batteries or recharging as required.

Geektastic

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#2148871 21-Dec-2018 14:36

Current suggested possibility in UK papers is eco nutters.

I was watching a video demo of Sea Whizz the other day. I wonder if you could have a miniature version using rubber projectiles? 150 rounds a second...!

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Ultimate Geek
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#2148875 21-Dec-2018 14:43

Still closed until at least 0800 UTC

--
Due to drones activity, London Gatwick remains unavailable.
Intended reopening is at 0800 UTC 21st Dec 2018.
NMOC will keep you informed.

NMOC Brussels
--

gzt

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#2149026 21-Dec-2018 19:06

sbiddle:
amiga500:

If you read the Gatwick airport twitter it's going nuts with all sorts of conspiracy theories about the authorities not telling the public the whole story.

And it's hard not to want to think it's some sort of conspiracy. 24 hours without flights?!

Secret government air traffic volume simulation for hard brexit.

Geektastic

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#2149070 21-Dec-2018 21:19

gzt:
sbiddle:
amiga500:

If you read the Gatwick airport twitter it's going nuts with all sorts of conspiracy theories about the authorities not telling the public the whole story.

And it's hard not to want to think it's some sort of conspiracy. 24 hours without flights?!

Secret government air traffic volume simulation for hard brexit.

Pretty sure they could simulate that on a computer...

amiga500

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#2149125 22-Dec-2018 06:54

Laws could be made to make it illegal to own or use a drone for recreational use. Drones could be bought and used by people such as emergency services, lifeguards at beaches, police, news websites, tv etc.

Give people some time to surrender their drones & reimburse the purchase price. Some professional youtubers would scream and lose some views but tough! Do people going on holiday really need to take drone footage of their damned beach & hotel? Would not having a drone actually ruin anyone's life?

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