Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Eugene

(61,595 posts)
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:00 PM Jan 2019

London's Heathrow halts flights after sightings of a drone

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Flights from London’s Heathrow airport were halted on Tuesday after the airport said there had been sightings of a drone near Europe’s busiest air hub.

“We are responding to a drone sighting at Heathrow,” the airport said. “As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologize to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause.”

A Reuters witness in a plane on the runway at Heathrow said multiple aircraft were waiting for permission to take off.

London’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, was severely disrupted when drones were sighted on three consecutive days in December, resulting in about 1,000 flights being canceled or diverting and affecting 140,000 passengers.

-snip-

WORLD NEWS JANUARY 8, 2019 / 12:50 PM / UPDATED 18 MINUTES AGO


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-drones-heathrow/londons-heathrow-halts-flights-after-sightings-of-a-drone-idUSKCN1P21VZ



Source: BBC

Heathrow airport: Drone sighting halts departures

14 minutes ago

Departures at Heathrow have been stopped after a drone was sighted, the airport says.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said the airport was working with police to "prevent any threat to operational safety".

She said: "As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause."

It comes after last month's disruption at Gatwick Airport after drones were reported.
-snip-



Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46803713
7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
London's Heathrow halts flights after sightings of a drone (Original Post) Eugene Jan 2019 OP
A drone? Did Pence fly in? Sneederbunk Jan 2019 #1
That's two London airports where that has happened Clash City Rocker Jan 2019 #2
My guess is "no" without also affecting ATC for the planes... brooklynite Jan 2019 #3
Jamming the signal could create a potentially worse situation. LakeSuperiorView Jan 2019 #4
Not sure... EarthFirst Jan 2019 #5
They do have systems just for that, and they deployed them at the other airport Sapient Donkey Jan 2019 #7
Maybe it's an inside operation to get funding for drone protectio. defacto7 Jan 2019 #6

Clash City Rocker

(3,379 posts)
2. That's two London airports where that has happened
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:34 PM
Jan 2019

Is there any way to jam the signal going to the drone? I think anti-drone drones are a thing. It seems likely that this will keep happening until we find a way to stop it.

brooklynite

(93,873 posts)
3. My guess is "no" without also affecting ATC for the planes...
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:42 PM
Jan 2019

The big problem is that the drones are hard to locate, so directing a disrupting radio wave on the right frequency is a challenge.

 

LakeSuperiorView

(1,533 posts)
4. Jamming the signal could create a potentially worse situation.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:50 PM
Jan 2019

Drones can have a "Return to" feature whereby on loss of control signal, they fly back to a set GPS location. If someone flew the drone around a runway, or set a poor location, jamming the signal could cause the drone to bee line into dangerous ground. No way to shut down GPS for a specific locale and planes in the air would be affected.

The frequencies used by commercial drones likely do not interfere with aircraft control, so jamming them is probably possible. However, there's no way of predicting what a drone will do if jammed.

EarthFirst

(2,877 posts)
5. Not sure...
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:52 PM
Jan 2019

My brother in law in the military has said that they have anti-drone technology aboard ships that actively jam drone signals without interference with their own com/radar systems.

I would imagine that the vast majority of civilian law enforcement agencies don not have immediate access to this.

Sapient Donkey

(1,568 posts)
7. They do have systems just for that, and they deployed them at the other airport
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 07:37 PM
Jan 2019

But do believe they are line of sight type things with directional antennas. To do some sort of blanket jamming seems like it would cause a lot of problems. Those also would not work if the drone is working autonomously. Even if the GPS signal is blocked, there are other ways to handle the navigation. Although, that adds to the complexity and idiots who buy these off the shelf just to cause mayhem would be stopped. However, if someone really wanted to cause problems then there isn't a whole lot that could be done by just jamming them. Someone could build a fleet of autonomous drones using pool noodles and components that that be purchased cheaply from China.

I suppose at that point burning them up with lasers would be the best route. I'd hate to be a bird that gets misidentified.

defacto7

(13,485 posts)
6. Maybe it's an inside operation to get funding for drone protectio.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 03:12 PM
Jan 2019

since the last one was found to probably be unfounded.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»London's Heathrow halts f...