This is going to be fun !

[vulcanised]

Something to look forward to

London 2012: Air Traffic Chief's Challenge - Yahoo! News UK

[boguing]

Paul Haskins has a bit of a short memory.

The airspace above London has been defensively monitored once or twice before 2001.

[chimbu warrior]

I guess no-one remembers the Battle of Britain.............

[Loose rivets]

Huh! I remember huddling with my mom under the stairs as the incendiary bombs hit our roof. I hope that they will attain a higher standard of security than that.

[cwatters]

and remember it wasn't just London that was targeted.

[brakedwell]

It won't be long before we see a block of sterilised olympic airspace on eBay

[Piltdown Man]

I can see it now. A miss-heard clearance, a read-back garbled by others transmitting on a heavily congested frequency, a fluffed frequency change and... Boom! Bit's of aircraft etc. are now strewn across tracts of London. It will have to be that or the Titanium curtain protecting "us" will be worthless. It takes approx. nine minutes from LHR and only three once airborne from LCY to get to that place I probably can't mention because of The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006. That means a decision will have to be made by somebody within seconds to either shoot or hope that it's just an innocent mistake. Have you ever heard of a politician (with the exception of the warmonger Blair) making any decision that quickly? So the decision will have to be made by the military.

I'm so glad I'll be paying for an event I can't (afford) go to, I can't mention because of a temporary Act designed to protect greedy sponsors, one which will potentially bugger our lives for a few months but one I'll be paying for... I'm so glad I live in a free country.

[WorkingHard]

It is utter and will have no effect whatsoever on any determined act of terrorism. It is the politicians deciding they have to be seen to be doing something. For those of us who use an aircraft for business where we do not know from one day to the next where we may need to go to earn our crust then the cost is enormous and it is not just for the period of the olympics remember.

[green granite]

What concerns me is the attitude that it wont matter if we kill hundreds of people on the ground when we shoot down a rogue 747 or 380 as long as their precious games are safe.

[The SSK]

It is utter and will have no effect whatsoever on any determined act of terrorism.

Some might say that the terrorists have already scored their victory.

[JOE-FBS]

If you think it's bad for you professionals, at least you are used to flight plans, clearances and required navigation performance. Spare a thought for we leisure flyers who aren't. Now, credit where it's due, the RAF, CAA and NATS have bent over backwards to calm some of the wilder restrictions which were originally propose by non-aviation people and to put in place a temporary infrastructure to help us fly in the restricted area. However, our freedom to fly will be severely curtailed and one imagines some businesses will be destroyed so that the politicians and multi-national corporations can have their sports day.

One other thing. We, being sensible people(!), are thinking about this in terms of what are credible lethal threats. Our lords and masters think rather more broadly and don't want their lives interrupted by contrary opinions either. "They" do occasionally let slip in public that "they" consider peaceful protest just as much a problem as lethal terrorism. Some senior police officer said so in so many words on TV around the time of the royal wedding and I have heard the same in an early statement about the Olympic airspace. Sadly, I cannot find references but in both cases the wording was clear, they are just as concerned about stopping peaceful protest as they are about lethal terrorism.

[DavidWoodward]

The terrorists will just get the bus instead.

[Wirbelsturm]

with pre-approved planes being told which routes to take well in advance.

Hmm, that'll be LAM, BPK, OCK and BIG for Heathrow then.

RAF running the air traffic control systems across London

OMG, to quote my daughter, we're all doomed! The Crabs have never had to deal with so much traffic from so many differnet countries with so many different radio practices/accents before, and I thought Brize Norton circuit pattern control was dodgy!

It's going to be a fun filled few months at Lagos north!

[deSitter]

It is utter and will have no effect whatsoever on any determined act of terrorism. It is the politicians deciding they have to be seen to be doing something. For those of us who use an aircraft for business where we do not know from one day to the next where we may need to go to earn our crust then the cost is enormous and it is not just for the period of the olympics remember.

Of course it's . But years ago you guys put up Orwellian posters that said "Secure beneath the watchful eyes" (complete with creepy disembodied eyes) and then blanketed your island with closed circuit TV cameras, effectively making public privacy a thing of the past. Why are you going down this path? It's bad here in the US, but nothing like the UK.

[dazdaz1]

The terrorists have won already, their sitting back laughing their c**ks off, they have instilled fear. Our Government is playing in to their hands, no attack, they just watch and enjoy the panic procedures HMG are implementing. The action of HMG over the Olympics gives them kudos.

I would consider (hypothetical attack) around the Eurovision song contest where security might not be up to Western standards.

[brakedwell]

Don't worry, Humph's smile will scare them off

[dazdaz1]

Brakedwell

How very very dare you to diss the Humph. I feel sorry for the security who have to do the internal for the Russian Grannies

[Wirbelsturm]

I feel sorry for the security who have to do the internal for the Russian Grannies

I didn't realise Wayne Rooney was going!

[etrang]

The terrorists will just get the bus instead.

David Woodward, you should know better then to provide advice to terrorists on how to avoid security measures.

Moderators, please delete the above post. In fact delete the entire thread.

[Slasher]

The terrorists will just get the bus instead.

I can think of at least another 3 obvious methods they could
use - but if I list them all here old estrang will probably want
my post ripped from its mounts too.