Gatwick Airport drone attack: Police have ‘no lines of inquiry’
Police investigating a drone attack at Gatwick Airport say they are no closer to finding the people responsible.
Flights were suspended for 30 hours after the drone sightings in December, causing chaos for 140,000 passengers.
Sussex Police said they received 129 separate reports of drone activity at the time, with 109 from “credible witnesses” including a pilot and airport police.
The force say they have ruled out 96 people of interest.
Without new information coming to light, there are “no further realistic lines of inquiry at this time”, police added.
The incident was not deemed terror-related and there is no evidence to suggest it was either state-sponsored, campaign or interest-group led. No further arrests have been made.
The criminal investigation by Sussex Police, with support from national expertise, has identified, researched and ruled out 96 people “of interest”.
The policing operation and subsequent investigation has cost £790,000 and is not expected to increase further, with the bulk of the cost relating to the operational police response.
Witness statements show activity happened in “groupings” across the three days on 12 separate occasions, varying in length from between seven and 45 minutes.
On six of these occasions, witnesses clearly saw two drones operating simultaneously.
Sussex Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Dave Miller said: “This was an unprecedented set of circumstances for all agencies involved at a time when the police and the Government were at the early stages of assessing domestic counter drone technology.
“Equipment was quickly installed using both military and private assets to bring it to a conclusion and allow the airport to reopen. Measures now available have strengthened our capability to respond to and investigate a similar incident in the future.”
‘World’s first’ use of drone technology to deliver insulin to island off Galway coast
A GROUP OF Irish-based scientists have completed what is being described as the first ever delivery of diabetes medicine using a type of drone technology off the coast of Co Galway.
Researchers from NUI Galway successfully piloted the drone from Na Mine airport in Connemara to the airstrip on Inis Mór on the Aran Islands, where it completed a delivery of insulin and glucagon. The drone was successfully piloted to Inis Mór by researchers from NUI Galway. The drone also collected a sample of patient’s blood from Inis Mór, before returning to the Connemara airport.
Its round trip journey – described as the world’s first ‘beyond visual line of sight drone delivery’ of the medicines – took around 32 minutes to complete. The 21km journey was supported by the Irish Aviation Authority and took place between commercial flights, showing the possibility of future deliveries within planned corridors.
As the drone flew, its launch team had a live first-person view camera feed from the aircraft so that they could maintain their vision once the drone flew beyond their line of sight. Meanwhile, a second team on Inis Mór also had a ground control station where they could monitor the location of the drone before it landed at its destination.
The head of the project, Professor Derek O’Keeffe of NUI Galway, explained why the capability to deliver insulin and medications in times of crisis, particularly during extreme weather events, is needed.
“Climate change means that these types of severe weather events are becoming more prevalent,” he said. “Individuals and communities in rural locations can become isolated for days after a severe weather event and an emergency may arise where patients can run out of their medicine. Therefore, it is incumbent on us to develop a solution for these emergencies, which addresses the clinical,technical and regulatory issues before a sentinel event occurs.”
Drones have previously delivered other medical supplies such as defibrilators, blood and organs.
However, it is hoped that this latest delivery will provide a blueprint for those seeking to bring supplies to more remote locations in future.
Rupert Dent, ARPAS-UK Regulations Director, commented: “We were delighted to hear about the successful delivery of insulin by Drone from the Irish mainland to the Aran Islands, with a blood sample being carried on the return flight. We fully support this initiative, which is another sign of Drones being used for positive societal benefits. Drones are currently being used in Africa for delivery of medical supplies and the potential for them to be used for these purposes elsewhere in the world is very significant.”
Army boosts UK prosperity with £3m funding through DASA autonomous competition
Six companies have been awarded a share of £3m to develop new semi-autonomous concept demonstrators for the British Army.
The winners, announced at DSEI, will demonstrate their innovations at the Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE19) in April 2020.
The competition, run by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), sought to find collaborative ideas that could demonstrate semi-autonomous unmanned reconnaissance systems tasked from manned mobile positions for the British Army; a concept known as Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T).
The funded projects will be led by Leonardo, General Dynamics (UK), QinetiQ, Horiba-Mira, SCISYS and Tekever. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) as the lead for AWE19, will be providing the experiment design in addition to technical partnership to each of the projects in the lead up to the demonstration.
In announcing the competition winners, Maj Gen Jeremy Bennett, the British Army’s Director of Capability, said:
The Army’s commitment to innovation and UK prosperity has been reinforced in the Army Warfighting Experiment 19. We will work with both the Wildcat prime contractor, Leonardo, and the Ajax manufacturer, General Dynamics (UK), to integrate the control station for UAVs into these platforms.
He continued:
Building on previous investment with QinetiQ and Horiba-MIRA we will show how high levels of automation will reduce the cognitive burden for vehicle commanders and helicopter crews. Finally, two consortiums of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises headed by SCISYS and Tekever will explore the benefits of open architectures and operating UAVs beyond visual range.
The British Army, Dstl and DASA competition focused on finding and funding technological advances and innovations that make it as easy as possible for the operator to control an unmanned system, with minimal intervention and operator burden, so that they can concentrate on other military tasks in the field. DASA is committed to reaching out to industry and academia to find solutions to defence and security challenges and in this competition putting innovation into the hands of soldiers quicker.
Snowdonia space centre at Llanbedr given £500k funding
QinetiQ has been testing commercial drones which can monitor coastal erosion
Rocket launches in Snowdonia could be a step closer after the UK Space Agency announced £500,000 funding for a space centre.
The money will go towards a facility at Llanbedr in Gwynedd for space research and launching satellites and drones.
The Welsh Government is also giving £135,000 to a project to test unmanned and electric aircraft and space planes.
The announcements come at the opening of a space conference at Newport’s International Convention Centre Wales.
Around 1,800 delegates from across the world are taking part in the conference, the first international event to be held at the new centre.
Gwynedd council welcomed the funding, saying the project had the potential to create high-value jobs.
A report for the council in 2017 estimated it would cost £25m to turn the airfield into an aerospace centre, including improvements to infrastructure, business units and facilities.
At the time the UK Space Agency, funded by the UK government, announced a £2m fund for other sites around the UK to launch rockets horizontally, subject to a successful bid.
Lee Paul, Snowdonia Aerospace’s chief executive, said the ambition was to have the first sub-orbital flights launched from the space centre by as early as 2022.
“We are delighted to have been awarded funding to support these aspirations from the UK Space Agency both in relation to the Horizontal Spaceport Development Fund and also the National Space Technology Programme,” said Mr Paul.
“We will embrace the UK Space Agency drive to achieve an early UK-based horizontal launch capability with the aim of delivering the first sub-orbital flights over Cardigan Bay in the 2022-2025 period.”
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThere has been some concern about the potential impact of a space centre on the surrounding coast and countryside
Satellites and drones have many potential uses in areas such as defence, but also for monitoring climate change and improving communications.
Gareth Thomas, Gwynedd council’s cabinet member for economic development, said it had worked closely with partners to support the development of the space centre.
“With the support of EU funds, works are already underway to improve existing facilities to accommodate new tenants and create new jobs,” he said.
“This funding could build on that success in the longer term to create a truly world-class facility.”
But there has been some concern about the potential impact of the development of the former RAF airfield on the surrounding coast and countryside.
Claire Barcham, commercial space director at the UK Space Agency, denied the Llanbedr project progress had been slow.
“We’ve seen government and industry motivated to come together and we are on track to support the industry’s ambition to see launches from British soil from the early 2020s,” she said.
Ms Barcham added that it was an “exciting moment for space in Wales,” with the sector having grown by a third since 2015.
Image captionThe conference got under way at the new International Convention Centre Wales, Newport
In other funding announcements at the conference:
An additional £86,000 has been given by the UK Space Agency to Snowdonia Aerospace to test how satellite-enabled drones could be used to support healthcare in rural communities – this could potentially include delivering medicines to remote areas using the remote-controlled aircraft
Tactical Wireless, which is based in Shropshire, and the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service have been given £57,000 to develop satellite communications technology, which will provide a strong mobile internet connection for emergency healthcare staff in remote areas of Wales
B2Space has also been awarded £100,000 by the Welsh Government to set up in Newport and use Llanbedr to explore the possibility of using stratospheric balloons to launch “nano” satellites
Image copyrightGEOGRAPH/ROGER BROOKSImage captionThe funding is to help Llanbedr airfield work towards launching satellites horizontally, rather than vertically
Wales in space
The space sector includes satellites and unmanned craft and in 2015, a target was set for Wales to make up 5% of the UK sector by 2030, worth £2bn a year.
From small beginnings, Wales is now home to 47 organisations employing 517 people.
When the UK leaves the EU, it will remain part of the European Space Agency but will not be able to take part in European Union-funded programmes.
In conjuction with the Royal Aeronautical Society, ARPAS-UK has arranged a meeting to bring together the key stakeholders to learn more about the Airprox Incident Reporting of Drones and to discuss the way ahead.
Confirmed speakers are:
UK Airprox Board
Airprox Reality Checks
CAA
DJI
Representatives from GATCO (the Guild of Air Traffic Controllers) and the BMFA (British Model Flying Association) will be attending too. There will be presentations and a constructive Q&A session, plus networking opportunities.
The aim of the event is to inform and educate members/stakeholders on how Airprox reports are made and actioned, and to see if there are any improvements which can be made to the process. We’re keen that this is a constructive event for all drone related stakeholders, not a point scoring or political session.
Attendance is by invitation only if not an ARPAS-UK member.
The event will be filmed and made available to members afterwards.
SAM IS ....
Simon Stickland joins ARPAS-UK Committee
The ARPAS-UK Committee is delighted to welcome Simon Stickland to the Committee. We are incredibly fortunate to have members ready to volunteer their time and experience to help the drone industry and our Members.
Simon has a wealth of experience in photography, a staggering 33 years in fact, which is only topped by him flying model aircraft for 35 years. So when drones came along this seemed to be a logical combination of his skills. He’s now being using them for 4 years with Dragons Eye Filming – Drone Projects.
Yorkshire police force partners with fire service to tackle crime from the skies
A Yorkshire police force has announced a new partnership with the fire service in a bid to tackle crime from the skies. Humberside Police will share the DJI Matrice 210 and theDJI Mavic 2 Enterprise dual drones with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service to assist with investigations when required.
The force said the collaboration will make sure that a drone is available around the clock for both services.
The drones will be held and operated by the fire service, but will be deployable when needed to the police.
Chief Superintendent Christine Wilson, Head of Humberside Police’s Special Operations Unit, said: “Aerial capabilities are now regularly used in policing operations, and these drones will supplement the support we get from NPAS (National Police Air Service) both in terms of the helicopter and the imminent deployment of fixed wing aircraft.
“We are really excited at being able to complement our capability for all manner of spontaneous incidents such as searching for both missing and wanted people, assisting with rural crime investigations and supporting our firearms officers.
“I am delighted that we can build on the excellent relationship we have with HFRS to develop this capability to serve our communities.”
With high definition cameras and thermal imaging, the drones are able to play back footage to the helicopter pilot and camera operator in real time.
They also have a Mavic high intensity spotlight and a speaker which allows communication from the air with teams on the ground. The drones can go up in nearly all, but the most extreme, of weather conditions.
Liam Plunkett, Group Manager at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said: “The drones will serve both Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service in helping to keep our communities a safer place to live and work.
“In particular, the drones will help to assist in urgent incidents such as mud and water rescues or missing people, spontaneous incidents, helping with fire investigations, or to assist with police requirements.
“Ultimately the capabilities of the acquired drones will help to gather information to assist in our routine operations.”
Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter said he is pleased to see the collaboration between the force and the fire service and confirmed the two are looking at sharing further services in the future.
Mr Hunter said: “The drone capability will add an extra tool for investigative work, and the technology is state of the art.
“Working alongside the fire service on this venture will benefit both services and the public, and is part of a wider piece of work including looking at sharing buildings and the existing excellent joint fleet service.”
Altitude Angel Launches Drone Industry’s First ‘Just Culture’ Reporting System
London, UK; Altitude Angel, the world’s foremost UTM (unmanned traffic management) provider, has today announced it is to launch the world’s first ‘just culture’ reporting system for drone pilots and operators.
Emulating the approach already successfully established in manned aviation, where Mandatory Occurrence Report (MOR) and Voluntary Occurrence Reports (VOR) are submitted following an incident, Altitude Angel is to establish a similar reporting system for drone pilots and operators to report an event.
At present, there is no industry-wide function for drone pilots and operators to report or register any unplanned event they or their drone are involved in. The result of this could mean similar instances being repeated again and again, which could be easily prevented if learnings are made at an early stage and widely shared.
Philip Binks, Altitude Angel, Head of Air Traffic Management, said:
“The wider drone industry is behind manned aviation when it comes to reporting unplanned events and unusual episodes, but it doesn’t have to be so. Safety will be key to ensuring the industry’s expansion, so we should take the lessons learned in manned aviation and adopt ‘just culture’ reporting across UTM.”
At present, drone operators are directed towards the CAA’s system for reporting occurrences, the same system and set of questions which manned aircraft pilots use to report incidents.
“The CAA’s reporting system has been designed for occurrences involving manned aircraft, which can require a great deal of technical and operational data, to be completed by experienced aviators.” said Binks. “When compared to two passenger aircraft nearly colliding, a drone operator may feel their ‘little’ incident, accident or episode is not worth reporting in the same way, so they simply don’t bother. But there are lessons to be learned in every instance which is why our system has drone users at its heart.”
The Altitude Angel reporting system will be an anonymous web portal where drone operators will be asked to fill in a small number of questions if they experience something unexpected. Altitude Angel will collate the findings before making it available to the wider industry in order for each business segment to apply the appropriate learnings and improve safety.
Should the episode be serious enough to warrant a VOR submission, the drone pilot or operator will be redirected to the CAA website where it states ‘the purpose of occurrence reporting is to improve aviation safety by ensuring relevant safety information relating to civil aviation is reported, collected, stored, protected, exchanged, disseminated and analysed. It is not to attribute blame or liability.’
Binks, who is leading the project on behalf of Altitude Angel, added:
“Reporting an unexpected event is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card for irresponsible or criminal behaviour, but it will allow considerate pilots and operators to learn from others and take measures to prevent, or at the very least vastly reduce, the chances of the same type of event happening again. This responsible attitude to reporting can only reduce incidents and improve safety.”
The scheme has the backing of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is the statutory corporation overseeing and regulating all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom.
“The CAA absolutely supports this work by Altitude Angel and anything which increases the safety of drone operations in the UK,” said Tim Johnson, CAA, Policy Director. “It is vital the drone community benefits from the ability to share and learn from safety data as the rest of the aviation industry does.”
