Drones threatening commercial a/c?
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In a demonstration that nothing is really new, here's a post by Capot from 2016 in R&N, on the subject of drones. I well remember the fury of most posters back in 2014 when Capot suggested that drones were a threat.
Returning to the thread, here's what I wrote in R&N in November 2014
Quote:
I've been in the air transport industry since 1969, in a number of different sectors, eg airline management, airport management and engineering, working in a number of different countries, eg UK, UAE, Oman, Jordan, USA, Israel (Gaza), Tunisia, Algeria, Greece and the Philippines. Before that I was in the military for 10 years, including the final 3 years working as an Intelligence officer in the Gulf region. At various times, and in various ways, I have been closely involved in anti-terrorist action and aviation security.
In my view, the free availability of the sophisticated drones that are around now, as well as of the more and more sophisticated ones that are coming fast down the line, represents the biggest threat to air transport (to say nothing of humanity as a whole) that has been seen so far, not excluding hijacking by suicidal maniacs, SAM firings by rogue military forces, or Muslim and other religious extremists.
The threat comes from unintentional collisions, or from terrorist attacks for which drones can be used in several ways.
The threat cannot be diminished by laws governing their operation, for the obvious reason that laws are obeyed only by the good.
The ONLY way that the threat can be reduced to as low as reasonably practical is to impose the same controls on their manufacture and distribution that apply to dangerous, ie nuclear, weapons, with very long prison sentences for breaking the law.
And this needs to be done sooner rather than later. Any drone is a threat to safety, or a dangerous weapon if the user wants it to be, and they are out there, now, in the hands of idiots and terrorists.Unquote.
The funny thing was that at that time I, and the few PPRuNe experts who agreed with that post, were roundly monstered by the R&N majority who saw little harm in drones, live and let live, no real danger from these little toys, got one myself, etc etc.
Quote:
I've been in the air transport industry since 1969, in a number of different sectors, eg airline management, airport management and engineering, working in a number of different countries, eg UK, UAE, Oman, Jordan, USA, Israel (Gaza), Tunisia, Algeria, Greece and the Philippines. Before that I was in the military for 10 years, including the final 3 years working as an Intelligence officer in the Gulf region. At various times, and in various ways, I have been closely involved in anti-terrorist action and aviation security.
In my view, the free availability of the sophisticated drones that are around now, as well as of the more and more sophisticated ones that are coming fast down the line, represents the biggest threat to air transport (to say nothing of humanity as a whole) that has been seen so far, not excluding hijacking by suicidal maniacs, SAM firings by rogue military forces, or Muslim and other religious extremists.
The threat comes from unintentional collisions, or from terrorist attacks for which drones can be used in several ways.
The threat cannot be diminished by laws governing their operation, for the obvious reason that laws are obeyed only by the good.
The ONLY way that the threat can be reduced to as low as reasonably practical is to impose the same controls on their manufacture and distribution that apply to dangerous, ie nuclear, weapons, with very long prison sentences for breaking the law.
And this needs to be done sooner rather than later. Any drone is a threat to safety, or a dangerous weapon if the user wants it to be, and they are out there, now, in the hands of idiots and terrorists.Unquote.
The funny thing was that at that time I, and the few PPRuNe experts who agreed with that post, were roundly monstered by the R&N majority who saw little harm in drones, live and let live, no real danger from these little toys, got one myself, etc etc.

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Drone induced shutdown of Gatwick & Heathrow.
Peter Gibson of CASA being interviewed on radio stated ' if a pilot is notified that a drone is visible or operating in the vicinity of the airport approach, the pilot can choose an alternate approach', really, opposing traffic, tail winds, etc, come to mind.


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Some pilots carry reserve fuel for that.

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Interestingly, the aforementioned Peter Gibson, in a recent interview (presumably not the one referred to above) stated that about 80% of drones have control systems that embed the drone serial number in the signal transmissions and that this, in conjunction with compulsory drone registration in Australia, would dramatically change the way rules relating to drones are enforced there.


Join Date: Jan 2008
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Interestingly, the aforementioned Peter Gibson, in a recent interview (presumably not the one referred to above) stated that about 80% of drones have control systems that embed the drone serial number in the signal transmissions and that this, in conjunction with compulsory drone registration in Australia, would dramatically change the way rules relating to drones are enforced there.
Yes, it was in that interview that the embedded serial no was mentioned.

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Well today Canada announced new rules to the already existing ones that should put more restrictions on those who fly drones...
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/tran...tors-1.4246401
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/tran...tors-1.4246401

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Interestingly, the aforementioned Peter Gibson, in a recent interview (presumably not the one referred to above) stated that about 80% of drones have control systems that embed the drone serial number in the signal transmissions and that this, in conjunction with compulsory drone registration in Australia, would dramatically change the way rules relating to drones are enforced there.
I'm no drone pilot, but from what I understand the radio tech is straightforward to switch out. So even if drones are officially registered and all manufactured drones to market are traceable, it wouldn't be difficult to circumvent.
This drone issue will take a combination of legislation, education, technology and contingency planning to resolve.
