Apparently some idiot thinks it’s funny to cause chaos on one of the busiest days of the year by flying drones around the runway ,so that flights can’t take off or land. I don’t think they should be arrested, just give them half an hour with the people who have had their plans ruined
Do you think that this could be a dress rehearsal for a no deal Brexit, never seen anything like this before, don’t think anybody as a clue how to handle the situation which is now approaching a total shutdown of Gatwick Airport for a full day !!
Like @mick I think this is a much more sinister event that goes well beyond inconvenience and financial loss (no compensation payable) to holiday-makers, and is intended to signal as much.
The fact that the perpetrator has evaded detection for so long suggests expert planning and implementation. Who might be behind it is anybody’s guess, but I fear it is very much a sign of things to come, Brexit or no Brexit.
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It’s not that simple apparently. Many drones can follow pre programmed routes using GPS and travel at 50 kmh. They will even return ‘home’ when their battery level is getting too low. They could be being flown from the privacy of a property within a huge area, there is no need to have a person with a controller standing out in the cold on the edge of an airfield.
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They (the CAA?) could do with a few of these
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It’s denial of service, cheaper and less destructive than a bomb but clever. Not an amateur stunt. Our expert security agencies will no doubt counter it but it’s embarrassing given the age we live in.
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Perhaps what we need is some clever ‘Boffin’ to come up with a way of jamming the electronic control systems of these things.
Radio jamming has been around a while. Problem apparently is the sky being full of planes (non Gatwick) would also be effected.
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some flights are back on… got a relative trying to fly Gatwick-Paris and he’s just heard it will go ahead + 2 hours… phew…
“Dell, Dell,”
(Rodney watches telly)
“Dell, those drones you sold…”
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Hello G Cooper… welcome to the forum.
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This is another reason not to let yourself become hostage to flying, apart from being treated like cattle that is.
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We shouldn’t forget that for many travellers, flying is the only way… 
I know that our family in SA will be mightily relieved when their offspring finally get home safely.
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Just had a call from their Dad… the “kids” are currently walking to the plane… hopefully it will take off and whisk them to Paris for a romantic weekend… before they head back to SA for Christmas…
But seriously Peter I agree it’s horrible for all of the 100’s of 1000’s of passengers having their holiday plans destroyed. There was one poor lady on the BBC this morning desperately trying to get to Spain for her fathers funeral tomorrow. She was distraught it was heart breaking. I am hoping someone will take pity on her and give up their seat for her. I know I would of done.
Always sad when plans go awry…
However… at Gatwick… the perpetrator is unknown… therefore the safest thing is to do is err on the side of caution… just what they did… no-one goes up/down… until it is safe to do so…
Whether the lady gets there in time…or not… the main thing is… she is safe…
This October, our car broke down on a UK motorway, en route to my brother’s funeral. After an hour and a half, with vehicles whizzing past…terrifyingly close… I had given up crying/worrying about whether or not I would get there in time… I simply wanted to survive.
Something similar happened a few years back to my family Stella. My grandmother passed away and on the day of her funeral it snowed really heavily and it had to be cancelled. It was rearranged to be about 5 days before Christmas and on the day it snowed really heavily again. My parents couldn’t get there nor could my brother or any of her elderly friends. It ended up being just me my sister and her 6 children. It was such a sad affair. Just 8 of us to see her off and celebrate 99 years of her life. We had to sing all 5 verses of all things bright and beautiful which was painful to say the least. And after the service we went to the hotel for the wake only to find my parents had rang and cancelled it as they thought no one had made the funeral. It was very sad indeed. Life has a way of throwing us these curve balls. But they are what make us strong I find.
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Drat and double drat… the Wake is the time when we let our hair down, laugh and joke, cry and comfort… as we recall all the daft things that happened during the life of **** (whoever).
We did finally get there… and the Wake afterwards went on for 4 hours… yippee