Drone in the London TMA

[Mabbs9]

Hi. I forgot to post the other day when I saw this.

A drone was being flown at 5000' just north of Heathrow. It was on the ATIS!

Who are these pillocks?

[J4CKO]

Mabbs9 said:

Hi. I forgot to post the other day when I saw this.

A drone was being flown at 5000' just north of Heathrow. It was on the ATIS!

Who are these pillocks?

Same people who shine laser pointers at pilots and the ones that will spoil drones for everyone else.

Could the drone manufacturers not include restrictions via GPS so they cannot be flown in certain areas ?

[Boatbuoy]

J4CKO said:

Could the drone manufacturers not include restrictions via GPS so they cannot be flown in certain areas ?

Some, such as DJI already can/do. But I don't think any UK sites are included, yet. In the US, a DJI product with up to date software won't operate in areas surrounding large airfields or in Washington DC. There's also a monument in Tianimen Square, Bejing that has the same GPS ringfence.

[RizzoTheRat]

Looks like there's a lot these idiots out there
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/26...

[essayer]

Do drones routinely operate at 5000ft? Seems rather high.
Any chance it was actually authorised?

[Mabbs9]

No chance at all. We were notified to warn us of possible collision as we left the Bovingdon hold!

[J4CKO]

I never want to find out, and they shouldnt be anywhere near aviation traffic, but could a consumer drone bring a plane down ?

I am thinking it could but more than likely it would cause damage but not enough to cause a crash.

[jjones]

Prop strike/Jet ingestion would take an engine out. So single engine aircraft are at risk. Friend has seen and reported one at circa 2000ft.

[Mabbs9]

I agree. Certainly likely to lose an engine if ingested.

[J4CKO]

Mabbs9 said:

I agree. Certainly likely to lose an engine if ingested.

So is the risk similar to a large-ish bird then ?

[Mabbs9]

Very much equivalent imo.

[andrewrob]

How easy is it spot things like this from the cockpit, is it a blink and you miss it kind of thing?

[anonymous-user]

Looks like an aircraft hit one today landing at Heathrow.

[anonymous-user]

Daily wail reporting it
British Airways plane struck by drone as it tries to land at Heathrow http://dailym.ai/1SkMbqM via http://dailym.ai/android

[andrewrob]

speedyguy said:

Daily wail reporting it
British Airways plane struck by drone as it tries to land at Heathrow http://dailym.ai/1SkMbqM via http://dailym.ai/android

Quotes like this always strike me as a bit far fetched. So on this occasion what speed would they have been doing? Certainly over 200mph and at 5500ft but he managed to take evasive action from a drone, how do you even see something that small at that speed let alone have time to think about avoiding it? Its not like its going to be a big hex or octo at that kind of height either so its going to be something tiny, or a bird, but drones sound more exciting.

An Air France Airbus A320 jet narrowly avoided colliding with a drone while descending for an approach to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in February.
The aircraft had been operating a service from Barcelona on February 19 and was flying at 5,500ft when the co-pilot saw the drone.
He immediately disengaged the autopilot and carried out an evasive manoeuvre while informing the captain of the drone's presence, the French aviation investigation agency BEA said at the time.

[SpeckledJim]

andrewrob said:

How easy is it spot things like this from the cockpit, is it a blink and you miss it kind of thing?

At 200mph could you swerve a bird on the motorway? Not me! And a car changes direction a lot quicker than an airliner.

[andrewrob]

SpeckledJim said:

At 200mph could you swerve a bird on the motorway? Not me! And a car changes direction a lot quicker than an airliner.

Exactly! Plus identify weather the object was a bird or what kind of bird. An american pilot has recently said that a lot of objects that would previously be labelled as unknown are just being called drones now.

[anonymous-user]

The pilots saw a drone on approach and then hit it. Why does anyone think that's not correct or reasonable?

I've flown into a couple of birds on approach to airports. I could easily identify them as birds.

I could certainly tell if it was a drone or a bird.

Edited by el stovey on Sunday 17th April 22:25

[andrewrob]

el stovey said:

The pilots saw a drone on approach and then hit it. Why does anyone think that's not correct or reasonable?

I've flown into a couple of birds on approach to airports. I could easily identify them as birds.

I could certainly tell if it was a drone or a bird.

Edited by el stovey on Sunday 17th April 22:25

But would you take evasive action? What kind of speed would the french plane be doing at that point? Not arguing with you just genuinely interested in a pilots view on it. Especially when there's been reports filed for drones passing at the end of the wing etc

[jjones]

andrewrob said:

But would you take evasive action? What kind of speed would the french plane be doing at that point? Not arguing with you just genuinely interested in a pilots view on it. Especially when there's been reports filed for drones passing at the end of the wing etc

The drone that was seen by my friend was spotted at 120kts. Drones typically have red/green lights on them to enable the operator to see which orientation they are in which would help with spotting them.