Rockets fired at aircraft
 

I know where I'd like to insert a rocket ! Apologies if this isn't the correct forum.



Man fired 'rockets' at aircraft (taken from BBC webpage)


A landscaper has admitted blasting fireworks into the path of passenger planes landing at Edinburgh Airport.
Peter Crane, 20, fired the rockets from his back garden in Newbridge on a busy Friday night on 29 October 2004.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court he pleaded guilty to reckless conduct by placing pilots, air crew and passengers in potential danger.

Sentence was deferred for a background report. BAA said incidents of that kind were "grossly irresponsible".

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Malcolm Stewart the exploding rockets could have harmed the landing gear or wiring of the planes or disturbed the pilots at a difficult time of the flight.

Because the passenger planes travel at 130mph, the margin of error is very small .


Prosecutor Malcolm Stewart,

"There was not only an actual risk of damage but a risk of the pilots being distracted by the noise or sudden flash which could have affected their night vision at this very crucial time," he said.

"Because the passenger planes travel at 130mph, the margin of error is very small and these were the highest category of rockets that can be legally sold to the public."

He added that he was surprised a similar incident had never occurred before.

He told Sheriff Isabella McColl that when the wind blew from the east, planes made their final descent into the airport directly above Crane's home at Riverside in Newbridge.

Air traffic controllers noticed the rockets exploding from about 1930 GMT for several hours until police detained Crane.

'Grossly irresponsible'

The controllers started to warn crews of the hazard and one pilot reported back: "If the last firework had happened a second later we would have been very close to it."

Crane admitted setting off the display but denied that he was intentionally aiming at aircraft.

However, he did admit knowing that planes flew directly above his house, sometimes very low.

BAA spokesperson Malcolm Robertson said: "Clearly we regard any behaviour of the kind which places aircraft and communities at danger as grossly irresponsible."

He added that the flights that night would have been a combination of international and shuttle flights.

he must be mentally insane, lets say worse case scenario, a rocket enters intake of a turboprop, aircraft loses power, hits his house. :rolleyes:

AlexB

insane is right, but it will most likely not hit his house,
more likely the neighbors house.
planes dont drop like stones.. :-)

He is 20 years old. The airport was there first. If he doesn't like it move away.

Maybe he owns the airspace above his garden, my neighbour certainly thinks so.

what a complete fanny :confused:

you can see fireworks from FL39. I can only imagine how distracting it would be on a final.

Fireworks rockets can destroy a private plane if the explosion happens just right and can damage a commercial aircraft, to say nothing of impairing the pilots' night vision and causing general havoc inside the flight deck.

We've had these nut cases before, plus the laser beamers that tried to blind incoming pilots. Last summer the FBI nabbed one of those goof-balls. I wonder what happened to him?

Pilots exercising LOOKOUT ???

It'll never catch on......

He does not necessarily have to be insane...

In ZRH people tried to blind you with extremely strong lights, as part of their protest against new approach routes. Experienced once, but it's not at all dangerous, more ridiculous.

One incident is reported, where someone shot small light munition in direction of a small aircraft, about two years ago. While repeating the scenic flight with journos, an airprox happened with a bigger plane on the ILS :-)

Doing a visual approach onto 04 at BHD, we had fireworks going off in our path. Wasn't dangerous at the time but if they got the aiming right, and rumour has it that they have (scorch marks on the belly for example), well that's just a bit silly!!! :confused:

On a lighter note, with puffs of smoke going off like that, and the prop synchro off it was definately WW2...

"Bomb bay doors open!" :}

It has, a certain former owner of an Edinburgh based Flying School, sadly deceased now, was b*llocked by the Airport Authority for having a fireworks party under the 25 (as was) approach :)

Doh!

This november 5th just gone, we were on final approach to 27L at LHR in A320 and at about 250 - 300ft we were hit right on the nose by a firework!! Wasn't so much dangerous to the aircraft but it gave both of us up front a hell of a shock and it certainly distracted for a good few seconds. Thankfully the autopilot was still in (just), if it hadn't been the pax would have got a wee bump at I lept out of my seat with fright. The bang was so loud once landed the cabin crew were straight on the interphone reporting it. What would possess someone to do this I don't know, did prove how vunerable LHR and other airports are that someone can hit a landing aircraft with fireworks!!!

I used to be quite involved with model rocketry and still talk to people involved with it. Make no mistake - the stuff rocketeers play around with now could take out a substantial aircraft - take a look here for a bit of evidence of that.

However, for some years all organised rocketry has been NOTAMed, and rightly so. But, I've been to several events where a notamed launch site was overflown directly by both light and transport aeroplanes. I've launched a rocket myself to about 2000ft carrying a hens-egg on a parachute (at a NOTAMed launch) to then be underflown by a C152. That would have made for an interesting MOR!


Which is really only to make the point that there are ways and means to ensure that firework launching doesn't endanger aircraft. The PTBs were quite right to presecute this pillock.

G

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

You should have got the ATC to tell us in the police control room roughly where it happened and we would have gone round their house and had a "chat" with them

FE

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

"You should have got the ATC to tell us in the police control room roughly where it happened and...

And then what? You'd have fired roughly in the correct location?

It was roughly 1.2 DME to the East. Accurate enough? :bored:

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

Sorry. But I thought I made a sensible enough suggestion. I agree that to find the right people on that night might have been hard, but we know the surrounding areas well enough to at least have given it a try. We all understand how dangerous that was.

We spend at lot of time there patrolling it, and no we wouldn't have shot the people resposible. That said, you would be supprised how co-operative a person will become when you have a MP5 in your hands. That said, it on our patrols we see some people with a RPG or SAM-7 on their shoulder, totally different ball game.

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

I was working on the evening of the incident referred to in the original post. For the idiot to suggest that he was not directly targeting aircraft is a complete fabrication. The traffic at the time varied from reasonably busy periods to quite quiet. There were no fireworks launched at times when there was nothing on final approach. However the majority of landing aircraft were greeted with not just one but three or four rockets around their path.
Not that it would justify it but the first thought was that it must be young kids, who didnt know the seriousness of the situation. To find out the guy was 20 just beggers belief.

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

There is a law that forbids the flying of balloons & kites above 250ft within 5
miles of an airfield. Is there one saying do not let off fireworks that might go above 250ft? if there is I've not heard of it. If not, then perhaps atc will have to set up a telephone line to clear rockets to be fired :D

remember: most people dont use common sense when they are having fun

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

Full Emergency - yes, it was a good suggestion, thanks, (to ring the control room). Does LHR ATC have the control room number, should I ever be in a similar situation?

Re: Rockets fired at aircraft
 

With regard though to some of the earlier posts, you want to get a visual approuch to the runway next time and then they can see how dangerous an aircraft is when you transit their overhead at 50ft.