Gatwick Airport: Drone sightings cause delays

Does every drone have a specific frequency it operates on? I'm thinking they can't all operate on the same frequencies else multiple drones in one area could be uncontrollable. If they each operate to a specific frequency that could be the finger print / signature for the drone. If you can pick up the frequency a rogue drone is operating on could you jam it? Or if the operating frequency of every drone is registered at point of sale could they be traced back to the purchaser? Dunno.
 
Got to look at the bigger picture here.
After hours no one has been caught,imagine one of these used as a missile with a small bomb on.
Whoever’s is doing this needs a good jail sentence.
 
Dasit said:
Some people are saying battery last 20 minutes.

So why is the airport closed for 12 hours today?


Might sound like I have tinfoil hat on, but there must be something more sinister happening there today
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It’s going up for an hour or so then disappearing,maybe to get a new battery,so I suppose it must be close ish
 
It all comes down to the what the drone was actually doing what sort of drone and where it was - they have their protocol and I would expect a closure like this would mean it’s got very close to some aircraft and it’s beyond being a social drone.
 
I fly a couple of drones for personal use as part of a photography/videography hobby.

The first issue is that of licensing, I don't think this will have much effect on these types of incidents as the law/rule abiding hobbyists will happily register their drones/get licensed. It will not stop those who are happy to operate outside of these areas. A bit like driving a car, there will always be those happy to drive without tax, insurance and/or a license.

These types of incidents have a huge affect on us 'normal' users who keep to the rules as drones/drone users are being tarred with the same brush i.e. perverts looking to spy and those looking to cause disruption. When I first started flying most of the comments I had were ones of interest and people wanted to see what was on the screen. Now there is a lot more suspicion around it and the negative comments are definitely on the increase, it's a shame as the minority (as in all walks of life) are spoiling it for the majority.

In terms of the drones involved at Gatwick, the consumer/prosumer drones have a battery life of 16-25 minutes, that is based on the couple that I have. Obviously you can have multiple batteries however it does take a little time to get a drone out of the sky, change the battery and then get it up again. My drones are geo-fenced so they cannot fly around an airport so the ones being used here have either been hacked or are custom built. Either that or they are toy level without any GPS however that seems unlikely to me. What I don't understand about this incident is how the police seem incapable to tracking the drone if it keeps popping up. There was a recent incident where a police helicopter followed a drone back to a garden and the operator was arrested. It seems to be a little odd that they cannot do similar here.

What I think it does highlight is how unprepared airports are and possibly haven't taken drones seriously on the basis of them being used in either a terrorist attack or simply a protest/disruption type event that appears to be happening today. Shooting a drone out of the air is not an option, they move quickly in different directions and any miss could have potentially catastrophic results. There is plenty of technology out there that the airports should have in place to ensure that any drone incursion be it intentional or accidental it would be sorted with minimal effort and little knock on effects to passengers.
 
R2R - Interesting post. I was sat next to a man on a course recently who ran commercial drones. He did a lot of work for developers, land owners, farmers etc. He also said in the beginning people stopped him for a chat out of curiosity. Now they get a little hostile believing he is spying on them. A change in the perception of drones and unfair on the professionals out there using them.
 
What I don’t get is why it is Gatwick only. If there is a rest threat anyonevwishing harm with a drone could easily get to Heathrow in an hour, why isn’t that closed as well? And others.

Btw, a German football scout has been caught on Tuesday flying a drone over an opposition training ground. They are not totally untraceable.
(We still didn’t get the 3points)
 
It is pretty unbelievable how much carnage one drone (or two) could cause. It seems insane to me that someone could basically shut down all flights in London with 4 drones.
 
Yes, I am really glad I didn't get as far as checking in. Once in the airport, you are jiggered, especially those who have gone through security.
 
Dasit said:
What the hell is really happening

This has to be much bigger than just a drone
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Or they are bringing in guys with specialist equipment designed to help track the signals- my mate is part of a team on its way
 
Don't know why we are faffing about with this, sub up the Thames and a Trident missile, sorted mate.
Isn't that why we spend £trillions on it, to defend our country against a £200 toy.
 
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