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Drone Mischief (Harassment; Crime; Pranks; Etc.)

On Radio Four this morning the transport minister, Grayling, refused to speculate and then speculated that it might be environmental protestors! Equally it could be foreign agents testing airport security on an official or semi-official basis, 'terrorists' of some sort doing the same, pissed-off residents who want a good night's sleep, low-life scrotes doing it for the sake of it, a company with sinister financial motives (trying to make Gatwick's security look poor, or to drive down its share value or its likelihood of getting a new runway), and those are ideas off the top of my head. There could be more but I don't want to speculate!

edit: politics snipped.
 
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I'm willing to be hired to patrol Gatwick with a large butterfly net.
 
I was listening to the news on my way home from work last night and the police were appealing for members of the public to send in any photographs they had of the drone for identification purposes. Which seems to imply that the drones weren't actually seen... Makes me wonder if it was one drone for about five minutes, and all the rest, as Tribble said above, was fear, flap and furore.
 
Tribble said:
The Dutch police use eagles. If you have to use birds of prey, do it in maximum style.

I'd imagine, given the limited bandwidth on the radio spectrum allocated to drone control, it would be easy enough to triangulate the location of any transmitters (i.e. controllers) within operating range. Jamming it likely isn't an option - far as I know, jamming any radio signals in the UK is illegal (don't know if law enforcement/armed forces are allowed to do it). The army (and, most likely, their anti-drone tools) are now on site.

This odd situation is also spawning a few online conspiracy theories. Was it set up to divert attention from the above-normal-level chaos in Parliament? Was it a protest about the recent arrest at Gatwick of far-right activist Jayda Fransen? Were they controlled by Russian agents disrupting a busy airport at a particularly busy time of year? How come the drones were airborne so long - far longer than the usual flight time for a cheap drone?
If they manage to capture just one drone, I'm guessing it'll be easily traced back to an owner (fingerprints, serial numbers) and they'll be in deep trouble.
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The Dutch have stopped using birds of prey, according to article in today's The Register.
They proved expensive to train and unpredictable in operation.

Only realistic option seems to be to track the drone back to its base and arrest the perpetrator(s).
 
catseye said:
I was listening to the news on my way home from work last night and the police were appealing for members of the public to send in any photographs they had of the drone for identification purposes. Which seems to imply that the drones weren't actually seen... Makes me wonder if it was one drone for about five minutes, and all the rest, as Tribble said above, was fear, flap and furore.
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I still keep thinking that this is a smokescreen for something else ........ no idea what of course, just a gut feeling, all of the reports so far just don't add up. No doubt some 'evidence' will eventually be produced to 'prove' that it was one or more drones but, well ............

Or maybe I need a new tin foil hat. :)
 
Another reason birds don't work - the rotors have a tendency to chop their legs off apparently.
 
CarlosTheDJ said:
Another reason birds don't work - the rotors have a tendency to chop their legs off apparently.
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If they are environmentalists, that could be a good approach. Drive up flocks of birds beneath its flight path and watch the horror as they are dismembered seriatim.
 
Aussie company reckons it has the answer to the drones issue at Gatwick - and it involves a super-huge cool-looking sci-fi-like gun! (Maybe one for Maximus Otter). Oleg Vornik, of DroneShield, also said: "Drones had previously caused issues at Heathrow and Dubai airports but no airport was willing to be the first to install counter-drone technology," which is an interesting quote. They do seem to be a genuine company too, their products having been used at the Commonwealth Games and the Winter Olympics

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...k-airport-s-drone-crisis-20181220-p50nkq.html
 
Given the flap a few years ago about green laserpointer pens potentially bringing down a 747, surely these could be used against drones ?
 
No, the laserpointers don't make the plane explode. They blind the pilot, permanently.
 
So you can poke some-one's eye out with it ?

I won't use a drone at an airport if jet planes stop flying over my house.
 
And just now a major London airport is in total disarray with millions of pounds in revenue lost, and several hundred thousand people unable to travel - just because of a small number of people disrupting things with drone aircraft that can cost no more than £200 apiece, if that, and who the authorities have been utterly unable to find. If I were minded to conspiracy theories, it's almost as if somebody is experimenting with how to cause as much disruption as possible, with little or no cost to human life, at the lowest possible cost, in the shortest possible time. As if the British security services are being tested out to see how well they respond and how quickly they can resolve the situation... somebody thinking creatively and exploiting a weakness... (and no, i don't think it was the Russians, but you never know... bet they're watching, though!)
 
It's almost as if the Media have twigged they are losing their audience through the mind-numbing tedium of Brexit and need a diversion.
HS2 bosses have seen the reaction to Crossrail asking for more money and are shitting themselves because they have already spent all their funds and haven't produced a single metre of new track. Princess Megan won't oblige with a new Royal Heir, so it's time to dust off an old scare and add a terrorist angle.
 
Does anyone know what range you can control a drone within?
 
According to the news just there, the police want to talk to morons of interest. OK, they said people of interest, but meanspirited human stupidity is not necessarily proof of a conspiracy.
 
AgProv said:
And justnow a major London airport is in total dissaray with millions of pounds in revenue lost, and several hundred thousand people unable to travel - just because of a small number of people disrupting things with drone aircraft that can cost no more than £200 apiece, if that, and who the authorities have been utterly unable to find. If I were minded to conspiracy theories, it's almost as if somebody is experimenting with how to cause as much disruption as possible, with little or no cost to human life, at the lowest possible cost, in the shortest possible time. As if the British security services are being tested out to see how well they respond and how quickly they can resolve the situation... somebody thinking creatively and exploiting a weakness... (and no, i don't think it was the Russians, but you never know... bet they're watching, though!)
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Yeah, the Gatwick douchebags were "environmental" grinches, who badly want people to hate their cause and are going to jail. If there is any conspiracy involved, it would have to be a false flag operation by the fossil fuel industry, but there are "activists" who are dumb enough to think this was a good idea. May Krampus place them in a bag and drown them like kittens.
 
AlchoPwn said:
Yeah, the Gatwick douchebags were "environmental" grinches, who badly want people to hate their cause and are going to jail. If there is any conspiracy involved, it would have to be a false flag operation by the fossil fuel industry, but there are "activists" who are dumb enough to think this was a good idea. May Krampus place them in a bag and drown them like kittens.
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What I find incomprehensible is that the whole thing grinds to a halt because of plastic toys. Doesn't say much for our readiness to deal with a life threatening emergency. No one think of shooting the plastic things down or using another £200 drone to bring it down? Or did the pc brigade voice the view that we should be kind to drones at this festive season? Actually I find it pathetic.
 
PeteS said:
What I find incomprehensible is that the whole thing grinds to a halt because of plastic toys. Doesn't say much for our readiness to deal with a life threatening emergency. No one think of shooting the plastic things down or using another £200 drone to bring it down? Or did the pc brigade voice the view that we should be kind to drones at this festive season? Actually I find it pathetic.
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Sadly the complaint is sort of justified. If the drone had been sucked into an engine it might have caused damage... but probably wouldn't have. Then there is the whole terrorism threat, because it may have been packed or even built out of C4 and be a super cheap guided missile. Some places have trained falcons that bring drones down. I guess Britain needs its falconers again.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I've just thought of a new business niche. Licensed drone killer!
Eradicating drones... wonder what the scope is for earnings? Hmmmm...
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Oh I think you could charge what you wanted. £50k a time seems fair. A tiny drop in the ocean compared to the direct and indirect cost of this fiasco. We'll go into partnership- I can supply some pretty sophisticated radio control equipment.
 
Coal said:
I think you'll find semi-auto shotguns and 3" cartridges loaded with BB shot most efficacious.
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Some drones can fly higher up than a shotgun can manage.
 
PeteS said:
Oh I think you could charge what you wanted. £50k a time seems fair. A tiny drop in the ocean compared to the direct and indirect cost of this fiasco. We'll go into partnership- I can supply some pretty sophisticated radio control equipment.
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Yeah - you fly the drones, I'll shoot 'em down. Deal?
 
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