Airport drone problem

[mike]

It is widely reported that the maximum sentence for operating a drone in a controlled space is 5 years.

Now, how many times did they do it ?

Can the judge make the sentences consecutive, rather than concurrent ?

[kiloran]

From The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/1 ... ers-brace/ :

The arrests came after a witness said he saw a cyclist "frantically" packing away two drones away down a country lane near the airport.

Paul Motts, 52, said he saw a man in his 30s wearing hi-vis clothing and crouching over a drone in a country lane near the West Sussex airport on Thursday.

Wearing hi-vis clothing! If he had more than one neuron in his brain, he might have realised that the hi-vis clothing might make him highly visible!

--kiloran

[tikunetih]

By so comprehensively and utterly highlighting the total vulnerability of air travel, at present, to sustained drone interference then perhaps the culprits' sentences should be commuted for the favour they've done us...

Skip 1 in 10 of their 140,000 lashes?

[zico]

Well, I called that one wrong as I thought it had to be highly organised professional disrupters rather than spectacular incompetence by the police. But honestly, cyclists in hi-vis clothing not being spotted by the police and army - you really couldn't make it up! Presumably there will be some ironic comments from the cycling fraternity, who complain about motorists not noticing them in hi-vis clothing.

[XFool]

Well, I called that one wrong as I thought it had to be highly organised professional disrupters rather than spectacular incompetence by the police. But honestly, cyclists in hi-vis clothing not being spotted by the police and army - you really couldn't make it up!

OTOH. Perhaps that's why they overlooked them? Perhaps it was a good disguise? Hiding in plain sight.

[swill453]

Well, I called that one wrong as I thought it had to be highly organised professional disrupters rather than spectacular incompetence by the police. But honestly, cyclists in hi-vis clothing not being spotted by the police and army - you really couldn't make it up! Presumably there will be some ironic comments from the cycling fraternity, who complain about motorists not noticing them in hi-vis clothing.

Jumping to conclusions a little quickly I think. I've seen no confirmation from the authorities that this sighting led to the arrests. Or even that the alleged witness even reported it to the police.

Scott.

[tjh290633]

I understand that there is no limit to the fines which can be imposed.

TJH

[bungeejumper]

Well, I called that one wrong as I thought it had to be highly organised professional disrupters rather than spectacular incompetence by the police. But honestly, cyclists in hi-vis clothing not being spotted by the police and army - you really couldn't make it up!

It does sound a bit Famous Five, doesn't it? But I'm guessing there's a bit more science behind this one. Most people would be unaware of the ways that mobile phone equipment, etc, can be tracked even after the user thinks he's done everything possible to take himself off-line. The precision bombing of al-Quaeda people fifteen years ago couldn't have happened without that secretive technology. Just saying.

A bigger worry is that these drones could have been pre-programmed to fly by GPS, after which the now-redundant transmitters could have been destroyed by fire. It looks like these people weren't quite that professional. But at the end of the day, all of the world's transport systems rely on trusting the public not to do this sort of stuff. Motorways, railways, you name it. That's a worry.

BJ

[Lootman]

If the suspects are found guilty. could the airport, airlines and passengers sue them in a civil court for every penny they have, and more?

An interesting thought, which also occurred to me. And even if not found guilty, doesn't a civil court have a lower threshold for proof than a criminal court?

I'm not sure the average nutjob eco-terrorist has a large net worth. So you might win an action against them, but good luck collecting . .

[Itsallaguess]

I imagine it's been quite surreal living really close to Gatwick in recent days....

Imagine having what must normally seem like a constant sound of airborne planes instantly turned off, and then actually being able to hear things locally like other people normally do, who don't have to put up with these passenger and freight aircraft buzzing around all day...

I suppose that constant background noise is something you must ultimately get used to and live with, but for those local residents who, in the past couple of days, have had a glimpse of what real peace and quiet is like, it must come as quite an aural-shock when it's all turned back on again and things get 'back to normal'....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[csearle]

I imagine it's been quite surreal living really close to Gatwick in recent days....

If these people that have been arrested are found guilty I somehow hope they locate them at a prison situated just west of a major airport's 4km long 27/09 runway. C.

[Lootman]

I imagine it's been quite surreal living really close to Gatwick in recent days....

If these people that have been arrested are found guilty I somehow hope they locate them at a prison situated just west of a major airport's 4km long 27/09 runway.

Gatwick Airport has been in operation since 1933 and was an aerodrome before then. So anyone who lives close to there chose to do so knowing it was noisy. Indeed, many who live close to the airport work there or otherwise derive their living from the facility.

So I don't feel much sympathy for those who live close by. Although it is more sympathy than I feel for the bozo who is flying these drones. Apparently we can't jail him or her for more than 5 years. In the US that would be a 20 year stretch. Right now I cannot conceive of a punishment harsh enough. But your idea is a start.

[Mike4]

I find the whole thing curious in the extreme. I get the feeling the whole thing could yet turn out to be a prank staged by a clever and geeky drone enthusiast who is now both horrified and terrified at the spectacular success of his pre-programmed prank.

Another odd thing is how little is being said about this couple Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk they've arrested. There is a whole load of stuff written about them on this faintly spammy news website here if you don't care about a few pop-ups: https://heavy.com/news/2018/12/paul-gait-elaine-kirk/ so why is the beeb being so coy about them?

Thing being that they seem like a very likeable and 'normal' couple who both have a good work ethic and don't hide from the neighbours like your regular terrorist does. And given how long his boss says he spends at work its hard to imagine how he could have found the time to set up such a sophisticated prank.

My money is on them having the wrong couple and they have now been held for 36 hours without charge. Isn't something wrong with that too? Or are the cops allowed to hold people for 48 hours, then charge or let go?

[bungeejumper]

My money is on them having the wrong couple and they have now been held for 36 hours without charge. Isn't something wrong with that too? Or are the cops allowed to hold people for 48 hours, then charge or let go?

I think the police had a shortlist of people who they wanted to interview, and I'd imagine that this couple were among them. I suppose it's possible that the authorities re simply sweating them for everyone they know who might have been responsible?

But I also found this article indefinably creepy, in a different kind of way. Not least, because I hadn't heard them being named anywhere else, and this defending article seemed like two stages of intrusion instead of just one. Do we really need to know what happened at the barbecue they held on the wife's 50th birthday? About the husband's stand-off with his neighbour about an overgrown hedge? Where is this sort of journalism going?

BJ

[Itsallaguess]

Gatwick Airport has been in operation since 1933 and was an aerodrome before then. So anyone who lives close to there chose to do so knowing it was noisy.

Indeed, many who live close to the airport work there or otherwise derive their living from the facility. So I don't feel much sympathy for those who live close by.

For clarity, I wasn't suggesting that we should feel any particular sympathy for those who choose to live in the area of an airport like Gatwick - I was just trying to think about how eerie it must have been for them during the past week when the hundreds of planes, and their accompanying noise, were effectively 'turned off' for a few days....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Itsallaguess]

My money is on them having the wrong couple and they have now been held for 36 hours without charge.

That's obviously a possibility.

Having not quite kept up with the drone-related news over the past couple of days, has there been a sighting of the offending drones since they were taken into custody?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[swill453]

Released without charge now.

Scott.

[Mike4]

Gatwick Airport has been in operation since 1933 and was an aerodrome before then. So anyone who lives close to there chose to do so knowing it was noisy.

Indeed, many who live close to the airport work there or otherwise derive their living from the facility. So I don't feel much sympathy for those who live close by.

For clarity, I wasn't suggesting that we should feel any particular sympathy for those who choose to live in the area of an airport like Gatwick - I was just trying to think about how eerie it must have been for them during the past week when the hundreds of planes, and their accompanying noise, were effectively 'turned off' for a few days....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Well I understood what you meant.

I live 30 yards from a mainline railway and when they close it for engineering work it seems eerily quiet here too.

And yes that article is uncomfortably intrusive into their lives isn't it? I felt unwilling to look any deeper into the site as I didn't like the tone of it.

The surprisingly sketchy coverage we are getting from the beeb bothers me though. Perhaps it is really serious and this couple are being used. "Announce some arrests", comes the instruction from on high... Anyone will do.

[UncleEbenezer]

As I've posted elsewhere ...

If I were a known or suspected dissident from the Gatwick area, I'd be worrying a lot about a knock on the door.

[Mike4]

As I've posted elsewhere ...

If I were a known or suspected dissident from the Gatwick area, I'd be worrying a lot about a knock on the door.

Is there another thread on this here then?

I see the unfortunate patsies have been released without charge. I think the main purpose of their arrest was to take the pressure off the cops to be seen to be doing something.