5 years in prison is woefully inadequate ……..

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Viewing 15 posts - 46 through 60 (of 61 total)

  • capetonianm
    Participant

    It has all the makings of a Christmas pantomime :

    “Can you see the drone? It’s behind you.”
    “Oh no it isn’t.”
    “Oh yes it is.”
    “Oh no it isn’t.”
    “Oh yes it is.”

    Tragi-comedy really.

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    Gatwick chaos: drone attack farce
    Device may not have existed in first place, say police ● Couple exonerated after being questioned for 36 hours

    The Gatwick airport investigation descended into farce last night after police said it was possible that no drones had been there in the first place.

    The officer leading the inquiry caused confusion after nearly 70 public sightings of the devices led to flights being grounded for three days, with the travel plans of more than 140,000 people disrupted and the military deployed…


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Just a few comments – sorry if they’ve already been covered.

    The reason for not shooting them down I think is in case they fall on someone. A heavy drone can cause serious injury.
    No excuse for not using other technologies though, especially as there have been more and more instances of people flying drones close to incoming aircraft.

    2 years ago both Zurich and Geneva airports were worried by the danger that could be caused and have both now implemented several security measures to combat illegal drone flying. Further, they may not be flown within 5kms of an airport (nor over military installations or wildlife reserves) and each operator has to have a minimum of CHF 1 million public liability cover.

    The penalties for breaching the rules are high, and if people plead poverty they will be made bankrupt, and unlike the UK where you can exit bankruptcy after a year or two, in Switzerland it takes 20 years!

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    openfly
    Participant

    Drove along the B2036 just to the east of the LGW runway earlier.

    In a quarter of a mile I saw a convoy of police vehicles, a Transit and 7 police cars coming towards me, two police cars parked under the approach and another two police cars parked after another two hundred yards!!!

    They were all full of police.

    They are sooo desperate to spot a drone, to avoid the almost certain embarrassment that is about to ensue.

    I hope I don’t get burgled, coz I surely won’t get the police to attend….😀


    ImissConcorde
    Participant

    Our police are doing a wonderful job!!
    The individuals on board the ship with iron bars have been charged with “affray”
    (an instance of group fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace.)


    ASK1945
    Participant

    [quote quote=910905]ASK1945, sounds a really difficult experience, luckily your hotel and location went some way to compensating for the disruption

    For future reference, if you use Skype, you can call 0800 numbers free from overseas by using the keypad. I do this frequently without any problems.[/quote]

    Apologies to all readers for hijacking this topic again. Thank you for your comments “Tom” but I need to respond that I have been using Skype overseas since it first became available, although less now as WhatsApp is easier (and totally free) to speak with those who also use WhatsApp. My wife has Apple Facetime, but also finds WhatsApp better. Skype did not work from St Lucia for the 1-800 number, which was tried by us and several people.

    Back to the topic ! We finally arrived back in London last night exactly 48 hours late (which is far luckier than thousands of others who totally lost their holidays). Our only problem was our car was at Gatwick – and we arrived at LHR.

    However, there was a crash on the M25 and the connecting bus took 3 hours to get to Gatwick. Now that was only a small inconvenience to us – but we shared the bus with a couple of dozen visitors to the UK who almost all missed their flights from Gatwick. There were loads of very unhappy people who will not be returning to the UK in the future, unsurprisingly.

    When will this (so-called) advanced nation build an overdue fast train link between LHR and LGW. Surely this is more urgent than a third runway at LHR?

    4 users thanked author for this post.

    capetonianm
    Participant

    When will this (so-called) advanced nation build an overdue fast train link between LHR and LGW.

    +1
    I’d rate it as more important than ‘HS2’ if that’s ever going to happen. With all the indecision and changes of course, I don’t even know if that’s going ahead or not.

    Then there’s Crossrail! The UK hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory over its rail infrastructure, and yet for many years it was one of the best in the world.

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    Inquisitive
    Participant

    Where is the accountability? Why no one is talking about who saw the drone? And why it was not recorded by any cctv? If it is just a ‘cry wolf’ situation at least it is safe for now.


    FastFranky
    Participant

    The UK have an Israeli system that targets and tracks drones but they did not purchase the laser section that effectively shoots them down.

    The major problem was Government Ministers sitting idly by and being unable to make a decision to call the armed forces in.

    As to the health and safety factor, a simple law if ballistics is what goes up must come down.

    Firing rounds into the air inevitably means that those failing to hit the target drone will fall to earth with dire consequences for anyone who happens to be underneath!!


    Londonfrog
    Participant

    I’m truly finding it amazing that a crime of this scale and attention has not yet been solved. And don’t let me start on how inept the police was in stooping it within hours of first reported. They didn’t have capabilities? Call the Army!!! This was definitely more than just a prank – this was about the security of this country – regardless whether droned actually existed or not. Can anyone really feel safe/protected with such poor display of the government to protect us?


    capetonianm
    Participant

    This might be interesting, LGW will shortly be majority owned by Vinci, a French company.

    Whilst the French generally make a hash of running things in their own country, they often excel at operating outside France. Compared to most major UK airports, Gatwick is pretty good, it will be interesting to see how, or if, it changes from mid 2019 when the takeover is complete.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46691846


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    [quote quote=911508]This might be interesting, LGW will shortly be majority owned by Vinci, a French company.[/quote]

    They obviously have faith in a post Brexit Britain and see the opportunities by being outside of the restrictive EU!


    Londonfrog
    Participant

    [quote quote=911508] they often excel at operating outside France.
    [/quote]

    I had a chuckle… I guess, you are not a Southern rail user 😉


    capetonianm
    Participant

    I sometimes use Southern Rail, but hardly ever at peak times which is when they seem to fail, but mainly SWR and I find them generally good, their biggest handicap is the rail infrastructure which is outwith their control.

    I was thinking more of French run hotels and restaurants, which in France are often lousy, but very good elsewhere.


    Londonfrog
    Participant

    As a Accor Platinum I more agree with that statement although I do see some inconsistencies even within same brands. Generally speaking, I’m much happier with Accor hotels than with Marriott (gold in Marriott programme).

    Back on topic, wonder if this whole debacle has anything to do with this announced sale? Although it was probably organised too late to influence the sale if this was the case…

Viewing 15 posts - 46 through 60 (of 61 total)
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