Climate Extremists Plan to Attack Airport with Small Drones

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t Breitbart – Eco extremists have openly admitted plans to shut down Heathrow by flying drones in controlled airspace, to terrorise authorities into suspending flight operations.

Exclusive: How Extinction Rebellion Plans To Shut Heathrow Airport Down

Document reveals how climate change activists will use drones to organise mass disruption lasting up to 16 days later this year.

By George Bowden
04/07/2019 12:12 BST | Updated 04/07/2019 13:10 BST

Millions of passengers could face travel turmoil at Heathrow this autumn as Extinction Rebellion plans mass disruptions using drones, according to a new detailed proposal seen by HuffPost UK.

The climate activist group will organise “day after day” of chaos across two weeks at the west London airport in a bid to stop flights, the leaked document reveals. 

The group – which shut down large parts of central London in April to raise awareness of climate change – is pushing forward with a revised strategy at Heathrow despite reports of unease among some activists.
There is the opportunity to transform the humble drone into a David which allows us to stop the Goliath of Heathrow and the global aviation industry from destroying us,” the document states.

In the new plans, drones would be flown no higher than 6 feet, weigh less than 7kg, and be kept away from Heathrow’s designated flight paths, in a bid to ensure “non-violent action”. Activists would also have an open “hotline” to police and would provide two months’ notice. 

Extinction Rebellion confirmed the document was real and told HuffPost it had reflected on feedback from its initial plans to shut down Heathrow, and that its new proposals included measures to minimise disruption for travellers.

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/extinction-rebellion-heathrow-drone-plans_uk_5d1da527e4b04c48140ef43c

As a recreational pilot I am horrified at this threat.

Deliberately flying a drone near an airport, even if the intention is to avoid flight paths, is a grave threat to life. What if a drone accidentally strays into a flight path, and a startled pilot makes a wrong move and crashes an airplane full of passengers?

Large airplanes create massive wake turbulence which extends for miles around and behind the path of the aircraft, powerful air currents which could easily cause drone pilots to lose control of their drones.

Flying drones in the vicinity of an airport with the intention of causing disruption in my opinion is just as reprehensible as planting a bomb, then phoning ahead to warn authorities to clear the area.

Sure the terrorists in both cases probably don’t want people to die, but the risk to life of such irresponsibility is utterly unacceptable. One slip-up and the lives of hundreds could be in peril.

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Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 6:08 pm

I do think establishing a prison on one of the more outlying islands of Scotland, and sentencing these yahoos to an indefinite sentence herding sheep and living in a hut with no amenities would be appropriate punishment for being a green terrorist.

peterh
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 6:22 pm

I like it. Commit crimes in the name of “the environment”, serve the sentence without benefit of electric lights, modern heating or AC, or any other comfort of the modern age.

Greg
Reply to  peterh
July 6, 2019 10:33 pm

They’d also appreciate the benefits of a little “global heating” ( preferred new term at the Guardian ) if they spent some time up there.

Extinction Rebellion confirmed the document was real and told HuffPost it had reflected on feedback from its initial plans to shut down Heathrow, and that its new proposals included measures to minimise disruption for travellers.

Shut down Heathrow and minimise disruption for travellers. How does that work?

If they ever do manage to reduce air traffic they will find a cleaner stratosphere lets more solar energy into the lower climate system and creates: global heating !!

Mike Sigman
Reply to  peterh
July 7, 2019 3:52 pm

“The Environment” is just another way to Virtue Signal. Virtue Signallers were Stalin’s favorite people: he called them “Useful Idiots”.

Tom Halla
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 6, 2019 6:31 pm

Truly nasty was the punishment inflicted on the green terrorists in Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow Six”, of being abandoned naked in the deep Amazon.

Tom Halla
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 6, 2019 6:56 pm

I was thinking of a rather unpleasant place in the UK to herd sheep, and the more distant islands in Scotland seemed a bit more practical than the Falklands.

Mark
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 7, 2019 1:36 am

It is their goal to depopulate. They just don’t consider that they might be fist in line.

– why would we want to be so cruel to the Falkland islanders? What did they do to deserve these Bozos?

Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 7, 2019 9:30 am

Eric Worrall

Quit with the ‘transport to Scotland’ bit. We have enough scum bags there without introducing more!

MarkW
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 6, 2019 8:56 pm

Why give them an internet connection?

Reply to  MarkW
July 6, 2019 9:39 pm

Why indeed? ‘Derdy’ coal products of any sort should be denied to them, as they would deny others the means to a decent, healthy way of life.
Threatening LHR with drones is, to my mind, criminal activity and should be treated by the police as such.

Robert Beckman
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 6, 2019 9:14 pm

Deport them to Sealand

Sheri
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 7, 2019 5:03 am

Eric: Agreed, except forget the internet connection. They can write with pencils on paper and the supply ship can pick up the writings and bring fresh paper and pencils. If they end up needing the paper as fire-starting, it will be a quiet period in their writings. Consider it a gift of a simple life, something they crave. The internet will only make them cranky.

Gary Pearse
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 7:08 pm

Would it just be plain mean to leave an oil heater and gas cooker in a shed with abundant fuel and the instructions on how to connect up and operate it and another shed with animal dung to give them free choice? This may be a cunning way to rehabilitate horribly spoiled, upper middle class, marxy sparxy layabouts.

tom0mason
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 8:23 pm

Indeed the are plenty of islands just off Scotland, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_outlying_islands_of_Scotland . Some even have old buildings on them from previous population that live out in the wilds. And then there is Outer Hebrides, Inner Hebrides, Orkney islands, Shetland islands, Islands of the Clyde, Islands of the Forth. Surely someone who owns these islands would be grateful for some government money to rent a whole island or part of one.
These ‘yahoos’ should be allowed to keep their drones with them (without charging facilities). They also could occupy themselves by cataloging all the flora and fauna of the islands, and maintaining a weather station (manual only) to quantify all the global warming they encounter.

Ian W
Reply to  tom0mason
July 7, 2019 7:11 am

St Kilda would be the best. Most of the others could be reached by friendly zealots but ST Kilda is significantly out to sea.

Reply to  Ian W
July 7, 2019 12:08 pm

Rockall. St. Kilda is much too comfortable.

Michael
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 9:14 pm

How about Gruinard?

Tom Halla
Reply to  Michael
July 6, 2019 9:24 pm

If my memory is correct, that was the site of a biological weapons operation during WWII, that might have been decontaminated? They think?

Greg
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 10:41 pm

Doesn’t matter, biological weapons are “organic”.

WXcycles
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 1:51 am

Is there sufficient glue to keep them there?

Greg
Reply to  Michael
July 6, 2019 10:40 pm

I thought that was the name of a left wing UK newpaper which can’t spell its own name.

Seems a fitting place to send all the lying eco-journo warriors who go from air-con homes in air-con cars to air-con offices to make up fake climate claims and to tell the rest of us how to live.

Joe
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 6, 2019 9:49 pm

“I hereby sentence you to be subjected to the environment you are so assiduously campaigning for.”

Rod Evans
Reply to  Joe
July 7, 2019 12:18 am

+100
The perfect solution, give the enviro-mental evangelicals, the utopia they seek to impose on others.
How could they even complain?

Andy in Epsom
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 12:13 am

RUBBISH
just pass a law to allow them to be shot. THey should be happy as the carbon footprint would be decreased without their breathing. If they are willing to endanger thousands of lives then they must realise the consequences.

Newminster
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 12:41 am

Being “green” they ought to welcome the option. Is this not the future they have in mind for all of us — except them, of course.

Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 12:58 am

I don’t know why but Mingulay sprang to mind when I read your post. It’s been uninhabited since 1912 but has iron age fort and other ancient remains indicating that a VLC (Very Low Carbon) lifestyle is easily achievable.

Hot under the collar
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 1:15 am

Plotting to threaten the safety of aircraft is terrorism. How many potential passengers have they already terrorised? I’m sure Islamic terrorists also believe they have a noble cause. These plotters need to be dealt with severely, otherwise, anyone who wants to push their own cause will do the same.

WXcycles
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 1:47 am

Falklands

Ellen
Reply to  WXcycles
July 7, 2019 3:22 pm

Kerguelen

Big T
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 5:42 am

A few guys with shotguns could have a lot of fun shooting those little bastards out of the sky. Sign me up!

Mike Ozanne
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 9:32 am

Gruinard…..

Richard of NZ
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 3:39 pm

Perhaps Gruinard after restoration to its 1950 condition?

Editor
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 11:17 pm

Yes, prison is a good idea, but you’re sending the wrong people. Start with the presidents of the AGU and the Royal Society. Problem over.

Hugs
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 7, 2019 11:44 pm

indefinite sentence herding sheep

Not that. They might like it. 🙂

Robert Keon
July 6, 2019 6:37 pm

Step 1. Declare Extinction Rebelion a terrorist org.
Step 2. Jail leaders and associates.
Step 3. Confiscate their assets and funds.
Step 4. Do it now!

Patrick MJD
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 6, 2019 7:55 pm

Lets see if the authorities actually do convict these terrorists, because that is all they are.

Ed MacAulay
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 6, 2019 8:06 pm

You beat me to it!
Agreed this is clearly life threatening and terrorist activity. Declare them a terrorist organization now. Doesn’t UK have severe penalties for anyone who funds or supports terrorist organizations?

Michael Hammer
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 6, 2019 8:10 pm

Absolutely. There are only 2 questions, first why have authorities not already done so, second, if authorities do not do so what are they not guilty of abandoning their duty of their care to the public. This is not like a terrorist plot, it IS a terrorist plot.

Greg
Reply to  Michael Hammer
July 6, 2019 11:11 pm

The state controlled mainstream media and the govt. are complicit in this. That is why they do not act.

All these brainless climate worriers are the useful idiots of the elite. The have been indoctrinated by state education and media to despise their own existence.

Reply to  Robert Keon
July 6, 2019 9:26 pm

On target Robert Keon!

“Millions of passengers could face travel turmoil at Heathrow this autumn as Extinction Rebellion plans mass disruptions using drones, according to a new detailed proposal seen by HuffPost UK.”

Now that is a clear plan for domestic terrorism.
Not a joke.
Not a prank.
Not just an inconvenience.
It’s definitive plan to terrorize.

Greg Cavanagh
Reply to  ATheoK
July 6, 2019 11:22 pm

Reminds me of the good old IRA days bombing central London.

How long did it take to settle that dispute down? Two decades or so?

Eamon Butler
Reply to  Greg Cavanagh
July 7, 2019 3:49 am

The nature of terrorism is simply even just having the Threat of action. That can be enough to terrorise people and make them change plans, when they can. Not always possible, since, life must go on. But it does so under threat . So yes, whether it’s a Bomb or a drone, the purpose is the same.

Tony Anderson
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 7, 2019 3:36 am

I agree Robert Keon. What amazes me about this proposed operation is that Britain with its MI5 and MI6 and other surveillance organisation cannot or doesn’t already know where these terrorist organisation are residing and make appropriate arrests.
Also the members of Extinction Rebellion would know anything about the science of climate change. They are too busy making a fuss about it but would never have the brains to begin learning any facts about the climate.

Eamon Butler
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 7, 2019 3:41 am

Yeah. This is the line I would think is appropriate. The authorities should recognise them as terrorists, and deal with them in the same way. It’s long past time to stand up to these minorities who have society in their sights, and the intention to destroy humanity. Make no mistake, they ARE the enemy.

Hugs
Reply to  Robert Keon
July 7, 2019 11:47 pm

Saying they’re just terrorists is far-fetched. Among them are probably people who are willing to such actions, but most of them are just plain stupid and scared by the MSM to believe all kinds of calamities.

But yeah, a little bit of research by MI5 is necessary and probably in progress.

John
Reply to  Hugs
July 15, 2019 4:29 am

The proposed behaviour meets the current UK definition of terrorism:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/section/1

If prosecuted, I could see a Jury convicting.

John the Econ
July 6, 2019 6:38 pm

Once again, the leisure-time-rich political activist class plans on selling their agenda by annoying everyone else. Great strategy.

commieBob
Reply to  John the Econ
July 7, 2019 12:27 am

Yep. People will support ridiculous environmental measures until it starts affecting them personally. Only then do they start to closely examine the dogma and look for evidence that it is wrong.

Preventing people from going to work or blowing up electricity pylons is a good way to bring attention to the evil of the alarmist dogma. Of course, since the vast majority of social scientists are leftists, or even avowed Marxists, I don’t expect to find any studies to support that contention. 🙂 LOL

WXcycles
Reply to  John the Econ
July 7, 2019 1:53 am

Steady on, they’re the good guys. Really!

Earthling2
July 6, 2019 6:42 pm

Surely there is a law against uttering these kind of grave terrorism threats in the UK? If there isn’t, then there should be and those uttering these threats should be arrested and thrown in jail without bail and be sentenced to at least 5 years in prison. Extinction Rebellion members should be on a terrorist watch list after threats like this. If I said something like that, I would be expecting to be arrested and have a day in court.

Serge Wright
July 6, 2019 6:53 pm

Flying drones at less than 6 feet is a threat to people rather than aircraft. The main threat the drones pose to aircraft is if they get sucked into the turbines and at less than 6 feet, the drones would pass safely below the turbines on a grounded aircraft during landing or takeoff. Also, flying at low altitude would drastically reduce the range of the drones from their controller and it’s unlikey that this strategy would allow any drones to get close to the aircraft.

That said, eco terrorism is fast decoming a threat to society on many fronts including farm invasions, city blockades and organised riots as we saw post USA elections. This new form of terror is perhaps a greater threat to society than Islamic state, due to scale, risking shutdown of essential infrastructure and potentially creating widespread civil unrest. People taking part in such terror need to be dealt harsh punishments to send a clear message to their extremist communities. Deliberate airport drone attack should result in a 20 year minimum imprisonment and farm invasion at least 10 years, both with hard labour.

birdynumnum
Reply to  Serge Wright
July 6, 2019 7:53 pm

The drone could be sitting on the ground but as a loose object it is extremely likely to end up in the engine if it is in front of the aircraft.
You don’t see people standing around in front of a large jet engine spooling up or if you do they wont be with us for long and there will be a substantial mess to clean up
What you do see is an airport maintenance vehicle checking the runway regularly to clear any loose bits and pieces that could get sucked into an engine.

Reply to  birdynumnum
July 6, 2019 9:42 pm

Remember what happened to Concorde at Paris? Some junk on the runway?

MarkW
Reply to  Annie
July 7, 2019 12:20 pm

In that case, the debris was kicked up by a tire and hit the underside of the wing.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  Serge Wright
July 6, 2019 8:31 pm

It was a small metal object that had fallen off of an aircraft of vehicle or was not detected during an inspecting that was sucked in to an engine on the Concorde, ruptured a fuel tank, crashed and exploded killing everyone on board and people on the ground too IIRC.

These people have criminal intent and should be treated as such. I suspect, the British authorities won’t convict and lock these people up for a long time.

RLu
Reply to  Serge Wright
July 6, 2019 9:49 pm

It has been tested.
Birds splatter, drone batteries puncture …. into fuel tanks, hydraulic lines, etc.

Sara
Reply to  RLu
July 7, 2019 4:36 am

I’ve already seen what happens on an aircraft carrier when one of the deck crew gets even a tiny bit careless and walks in front of a jet engine warming up.

To even think of threatening to do this kind of thing as a protest is beyond barbaric and uncivilized. These people are beyond nuts. They are out of their tiny minds. They should be separated from the civilization and put some place where they can do no harm any more.

Thanks for the article.

MarkW
Reply to  RLu
July 7, 2019 7:58 am

I’m wondering how much structural damage was done to the wing.
The wing in the video was unloaded, in a real airplane going at real speeds, the wing is being pulled upwards by aerodynamic forces.

Beyond that, that opening is going to allow air to penetrate to the inside of the wing putting lots of outwards pressure on parts that weren’t design to take pressure in that direction.

Ian W
Reply to  Serge Wright
July 7, 2019 7:24 am

The ground clearance of the engine intakes of many single aisle jet aircraft like the A320 and B737 is not a lot more than 2 feet. In any case the huge amount of air being sucked into the engines will suck in human ground crews let alone small light drones. On takeoff this could easily cause a crash.

This is far heavier than a ‘drone’
comment image

Hasbeen
July 6, 2019 6:55 pm

Time to take the gloves off with this element who believe they have some right to enforce their will on everyone.

f they actually do this, the pilots should be charged with attempted murder, & locked up for years.

Just planning it should result in conspiracy charges & long prison terms.

Gary Pearse
July 6, 2019 7:00 pm

I’m sure laws are being broken even for the planning. Terrorism laws should be used if any security or safety ia being threatened. But, what’s a lefty givernment to do?

Greg
Reply to  Gary Pearse
July 6, 2019 11:39 pm

The current UK govt. is the from the Conservative Party, not “lefty”.

MarkW
Reply to  Greg
July 7, 2019 7:59 am

In most of Europe, you can be socialist and still considered Conservative.

MarkW
Reply to  MarkW
July 7, 2019 12:22 pm

One poster made the claim that there are no leftists in the US, apparently in his mind our leftists are to the right of their conservatives.

Russ Wood
Reply to  Greg
July 7, 2019 8:44 am

ER – you could have fooled me!

a happy little debunker
July 6, 2019 7:05 pm

Charge them with crimes (with both terrorism and “glorifying” terrorism) & watch these brave worriers pretend they are martyrs, as they are locked up into perpetuity.

Gary Pearse
July 6, 2019 7:11 pm

Would it just be plain mean to leave an oil heater and gas cooker in a shed with abundant fuel and the instructions on how to connect up and operate it and another shed with animal dung to give them free choice? This may be a cunning way to rehabilitate horribly spoiled, upper middle class, marxy sparxy layabouts.

Admin
July 6, 2019 7:21 pm

I hope all of these eco-retards go to jail for creating threats. SMH

Reply to  Anthony Watts
July 6, 2019 9:02 pm

And I hope they get chomped-on a big law enforcement K-9 first before the cuffs go on. Just to remember a little physical pain for negative reinforcement conditioned stimulus.

markl
July 6, 2019 7:28 pm

It’s all fun and games until someone is hurt or dies. Then it becomes a crime. Or, alternatively, it’s all fun and games until it hurts the economy. Then everyone is pissed.

Tom Abbott
Reply to  markl
July 7, 2019 7:29 am

I think this terrorist drone act will backfire on the perpetrators. They will get a lot of attention but it won’t be the kind they were aiming for.

Geoff Sherrington
July 6, 2019 7:41 pm

Dictionary for “drone” suggests a person too lazy to do more than mimic the worker bee; or to make a lengthy, boring, low humming noise; or an airborne device with no pilot on board.
So I am confused by the wording here. It seems to me that the main drones are the unusual people who seek to interrupt customary flight patterns at Heathrow, a place that Monty Python chose for criticism of the baggage system.
Are we tolerating too much disruptive social baggage? The day will come when the Global Warming farce is rejected. Why do so many unhappy people want to make the concept even worse? Lock them up, I say. Geoff S

Mike Haseler (Scottish Sceptic)
Reply to  Geoff Sherrington
July 7, 2019 1:32 am

A lot of commentators seem to be clueless about how the press actually operate. They aren’t interested in real stories, instead they are constantly creating fake news to fill their otherwise dull and boring drivel. And what easier way to create fake news, than to conjure up a threat which they themselves suggested to a drunk eco-nutter?

noaaprogrammer
July 6, 2019 7:47 pm

I don’t know much about how drones are controlled, but if they are on a few common set of frequencies, it would seem to me that a very strong set of signals sweeping through the requisite frequencies could be broadcast over the area, continually sending commands that would send any would-be air-borne drone immediately back to ground level. Are there any problems associated with that?

saveenergy
Reply to  Eric Worrall
July 7, 2019 12:09 am

“but they stopped short of buying the Israeli remote kill system.”

That’s the official statement;
…but the UK special forces has ALL the up to date equipment, including stuff you’ve not heard of yet.

dodgy geezer
Reply to  noaaprogrammer
July 6, 2019 10:57 pm

Yes. LOTS of models use exactly the same transmission technique as computer Wi-Fi. You would need to destroy all WiFi communication in the area, causing immense disruption.. .

lee
July 6, 2019 7:51 pm

“In the new plans, drones would be flown no higher than 6 feet”

Coming to a clay pigeon club near you. “Pull”.

Bruce Cobb
July 6, 2019 7:55 pm

What happened to glueing themselves to things? That at least had some humor to it. I know! They could glue the drones to their bodies, and run around making whirring sounds. That would be cool.

tom0mason
July 6, 2019 7:57 pm

There sits a new market ripe for the picking! But no enterprising people in the UK are willing to design and get approval for a ‘drone jammer’ in the UK?

Once the UK was at the forefront of new technology, now they complacently sit on the trailing edge, vacillating over what can be done. UK enterprising? — Not any more.

Reziac
Reply to  tom0mason
July 6, 2019 8:05 pm

Good idea! — Since I live in a cave, I was thinking along the lines of hiring a bunch of kids armed with BB rifles… you can probably conclude the other half of my thought.

Reply to  tom0mason
July 6, 2019 8:52 pm

They are readily available to authorized government (law enforcement and military) and governments everywhere are indeed buying specialized jammers for both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

They use high gain circular polarized antennas and a portable battery pack with a rifle scope for aiming like a rifle. The drone immediately loses its control link (2.4 GHz) and the video feed back to operator is cut (5 GHz) also. Most drones will just either go into a hover or land immediately when that happens. Armed law enforcement can either use a shotgun with water fowl load pellets or some even have specialized net launchers to bring them down if they are low enough.

Craig from Oz
Reply to  Joel O'Bryan
July 7, 2019 8:13 pm

“Armed law enforcement can either use a shotgun with water fowl load pellets or some even have specialized net launchers to bring them down if they are low enough.”

Sure, that will deal with the operators, but what are they going to do about the drones?

Tom Halla
Reply to  Craig from Oz
July 7, 2019 8:24 pm

Nasty!

John Robertson
July 6, 2019 7:58 pm

Well good for them,nothing shows your concern over the environmental effects of a technological society like using the latest hi tech toy to annoy and inconvenience every one else.

Attention seeking loonies, now that they have our attention,they might want to tread very carefully.
However as honest to God members of Gang Green and the Cult of Calamitous Climate, they will run true to form.
These are from the same shallow pool of intellectuals who thought 10:10 was an excellent idea.

Greg
Reply to  John Robertson
July 6, 2019 11:49 pm

Intellectuals always form a shallow pool because they are few and far between. What we have here is a pool ( or rather a lake ) of shallow intellect.

Getting your words in the right order matters 😉

July 6, 2019 8:41 pm

As someone who has experience with them in light aircraft. (Piper Warrior) I can assure you that a drone that encounters wake turbulence or wing tip vortices of a commercial airliner will not just cause the pilot to lose control but will instead be along for the ride wherever the currents wish to take it.

July 6, 2019 8:58 pm

governments are also developing interferometer DF sets to rapidly detect and pinpoint the UAV operators location.
4 or 5 DF receiver-locator sites networked together for interometery-based location around a large airport would be able to precisely (within 1 meter) locate a drone operator in less than 5 seconds. They’d be on that operator so fast with motorcycle units, K-9 to bite them if they resist, and maybe even a helicopter to follow them if they try to run. All within 3 minutes, so fast they’d never know what hit them.

They’ll be eating dirt, getting chomped on by shepherd, and then hands cuffed behind their back so fast, they’ll be crying for their mum.

J Mac
July 6, 2019 9:08 pm

Send them to Guantanamo Bay prison, where terrorists belong for the rest of their lives.

Reply to  J Mac
July 6, 2019 9:45 pm

No, I’d send them to a lock-up with a high population of violent sex criminals so they could be Bubba’s bitch with a pretty mouth.

Cameron Kuhns
July 6, 2019 9:57 pm

Should treat the drones like clay pigeons and shoot them from the sky.

dodgy geezer
July 6, 2019 10:52 pm

This threat has all the hallmarks of not being a real plan.

No one intent on causing disruption by flying drones at an airport leaks their detailed plans in this way. But someone who wants to ratchet up fear and knee-jerk reaction amongst the authorities would do exactly this. It is a safer way to cause more disruption and publicity than by actually carrying out an attack.

The background to this is that major disruption was caused to a UK airport recently by reports of drones flying in tge vicinity. None were ever found, but the airport was closed and innocent model flyers were arrested. It seems likely that this was a mistake, and no drones were really flying.

If a protest group were then to pretend that they were considering such an attack, you can see how concern would be magnified, and mistaken airport closures made much more likely, at no cost or danger to the protest group. This is classic ‘asymmetric psychological warfare’, as documented by Che Guevara, and I am concerned that people do not recognise it as such…

July 6, 2019 11:09 pm

Just throw these eco-genius in the middle of nowhere in the “warming twice as fast as the rest of the World” Greenland :

– they will surely thrive there.

MangoChutney
July 7, 2019 12:33 am

On the plus side, they will stop Emma Thompson flying in from LA.

MarkW
Reply to  MangoChutney
July 7, 2019 12:24 pm

On the minus side, that means we’re stuck with her even more.

Rod Evans
July 7, 2019 12:46 am

Time to offer the crazy climate extinction movement what they are looking for.
All who say they are in the movement should be given help. They should be taken at public expense to an Island off the coast of Scotland. Once there, they will be able to choose their accommodation.
Option 1. Warm well insulated cottages with hot and cold running water, heated by gas. A powered internet is provided by diesel generation based in the village community.
Option 2. A mud construction hut with reed roof that has to be replaced every year. No heating other than via peat with a spade available to dig the peat from the site two miles away. No electricity other than a manually cranked emergency phone at the centre of the village. Water is available from the communal stream a few hundred yards away, sited next to the laundry bolder.
They have the choice of which option they want.
To help the warriors and to take the psychological pressure of them, those who chose the modern fossil fuel living accommodation, will be required to pay a tax in the form of building stone walls for livestock protection in normal weather. While the mud hutters won’t pay any tax, but will be given the role of deciding how much wall each fossil fuel dweller is expected to build….
I rest my case.

WXcycles
Reply to  Rod Evans
July 7, 2019 1:59 am

Why give them anything? Make them pay for it, and build and maintain it as well.

If they want fuel let them beg for it, but charge them full price for it.

What could be fairer?

sonofametman
July 7, 2019 1:30 am

The XR morons have blocked the streets twice this year in my town. They had a secondary protest at a junction which is on my way home from work, and the police were doing a good job of keeping them off the street and on the pavement. I decided to try and have a chat with them, and approached the chap who was handing out leaflets. He probably thought I was a greenie/hippy as I’m a cyclist with dirty bike, and shabby old well-worn cycling gear. “Are you interested in the climate?” came the question. I let him start his pitch, but he got agitated when I started refuting his claims. Eventually he said that he wasn’t interested in talking to me and walked off, presumably to find some easier meat. They certainly don’t appear to like being challenged.
If you have the stomach for it, have a look at their web-site. Very depressing. There’s a section called ‘The Truth’, where they claim “We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Life on Earth is in crisis: scientists agree we have entered a period of abrupt climate breakdown, and we are in the midst of a mass extinction of our own making”.
I do challenge these people whenever I meet them, but the rot goes deep.
The company I work for ( a large corporate) , has a ‘No Planet B’ initiative. I have so far resisted writing the career-shortening email that pops into my mind when the weekly newsletter arrives in my inbox…..

WXcycles
Reply to  sonofametman
July 7, 2019 2:02 am

Can’t you just mark it, “SPAM – Return to sender”?

E J Zuiderwijk
July 7, 2019 1:38 am

An attack on the vital infra-structure of a country is an act of war. It should be dealt with as such.

Staffan Lindström
July 7, 2019 1:50 am

If moved to a Scottish island, the XR group surely would be happy to be herded by the sheep…

Flight Level
July 7, 2019 2:00 am

On occasion some have tried their luck with Cumulonimbus and brought down heavily hail beaten airframes. Sadly, bird strikes happen too.

However… Brutally loosing engine(s) at takeoff or early climb might not be exactly what crews and airspace are prepared to handle within a few seconds of reaction time.

Liners loaded not even close to MTOW are extremely sluggish to turn around close to ground without lots of power.

Equally, a sudden engine issue while in full reverse might prove incompatible with the routine…

So yes, engines are the most if not the only vulnerable parts. Now what are the chances of a flock of drones to hide undetected then suddenly group attack and actually hit ?

As remote as wining a lottery since Heathrow is at capacity and wake turbulences quite a permanent deal.

And drones endurance decreases sharply in windy systems.

Objectively, the risk factor of drones is not that high but it exists. However in aviation this goes beyond criminality.

Passengers trust their lives in our hands. Only deeply deranged inhumane creatures can willingly disrupt this process.

Over EU they routinely clog the emergency frequency with “Emergency, go (expletive) crash and save the earth !” alike slogans and other animal noises.

And now they step-up to the possibility of physical interaction.

More than time to realize, greens are not human but sort of biological robots with exclusively hate based instincts.

MarkW
Reply to  Flight Level
July 7, 2019 8:11 am

Would their be anyway to de-focus a laser beam so that it’s effective range is reduced to a few dozen yards?

MangoChutney
July 7, 2019 2:55 am

Stopping holidaymakers from enjoying their well-earned breaks is a sure fire way to alienate people from their cause.

This threat is clearly an act of terrorism and should be treated as such.

Archer
July 7, 2019 3:04 am

This plan is based on a previous event, a few months back, that disrupted operations at Gatwick for hours at a time over several days. Wouldn’t surprise me if that was these extinction rebellion shites testing the idea out.

StephenP
July 7, 2019 3:24 am

The BBC, for once, had a balanced program about the risk from drones.
There are countermeasures that seem to be able to deal with the problem but they are very expensive. They also need special authorisation as firing a high power laser into the air has its own risks.
However given the risks to Heathrow it would seem to be worth the expense.
As for the perpetrators……..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006h51/britains-next-air-disaster-drones

July 7, 2019 4:26 am

The Orkney Islands are far too good for them. See these wonderful images of Orkney.

https://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awr9J.gG1CFdM3YAkAzrFAx.;_ylu=X3oDMTE0cmhzZm92BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjY1NzBfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw–?p=orkney+scotland+images&fr2=piv-web&fr=mcafee

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/02/12/arctic-chill-at-85f-below-zero-so-cold-eskimos-advised-to-stay-inside/comment-page-1/#comment-2742696

Pause and think about the Inuit and the northern explorers like my kinsman John Rae (from Orkney), who discovered the Northwest Passage. These men traveled outdoors for months in the dead of winter – they survived by hunting and created their own shelter by building igloos. These were real men, incredibly tough and self-reliant.

I was raised by such men – gentle and kind, but tough as nails – “the Greatest Generation”. My Uncle Don, who was the only surviving officer of the Essex Scottish Regiment at Dieppe in 1942 and rescued most of the surviving men, and my dad, who ran half of the largest explosives plant in the British Empire during WW2, who had 3000 men reporting to him when he was only 26 years of age, and did not lose a man during the entire war. Real men – incredibly talented, tough, and kind.

It is difficult to reconcile their remarkably hardy achievements with the uber-delicate “snowflakes” of today, who are deeply traumatized by the slightest slight, and claim PTSD when their cappuccino is delivered at less-than-perfect temperature.

Sheri
July 7, 2019 5:51 am

“In the new plans, drones would be flown no higher than 6 feet, weigh less than 7kg, and be kept away from Heathrow’s designated flight paths, in a bid to ensure “non-violent action”.”

So the COWARDS are sending in drones because they are nonthing but whiney crybabies in Mom’s basement, right?

Juan Slayton
July 7, 2019 5:57 am

I see a couple of commenters above have anticipated my comment, but I’ll make it anyway: Post a few duck hunters with shotguns around the airport and let them hone their skeet shooting skills. : > )

J Mac
Reply to  Juan Slayton
July 7, 2019 10:51 am

How do you defeat drones? A 12 gauge loaded with 3 inch shells packed with #4 shot and a person that knows how to use it….. “Pull!”

Nik
July 7, 2019 6:36 am

Will they refrain when warmists are flocking to the next save-the-planet conference in Bali or Kathmandu?

Jubal Harshaw
July 7, 2019 7:13 am

I’ve seen videos of these awesome space marine looking anti-drone signal jamming guns taking out drones with ease on YouTube. I’m sure airport security and the Met have a few. If these idiots have the return-to-home feature active it could even lead law enforcement directly to where they’re flying from. Just another example of how ass-backwards most leftists apply the scientific method to their crackpot ideas LOL

Chris Morrison
July 7, 2019 7:36 am

There is more to this story than recent press suggests. Earlier this year Extinction Rebellion threatened to fly drones around Heathrow Airport for two weeks in July. The leaders, and they were well known, should have been immediately arrested for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
They were not. At around the same time they were playing silly beggers by bring central London to a standstill for eight days.
Nevertheless they were given the fright of their lives and came up with a plan to fly lightweight “pink” drones at head height away from direct flight paths. In addition they said they would give two months’ notice of their actions for airlines to make alternative arrangements.
If you fly a lightweight drone around head height you are mainly a danger to low flying bees. It is unlikely that planes would need to file alternative flight plans unless they had been intending to fly 24 inches above Hounslow.
This latest scare was little more than a diversionary and face saving ploy from our so far unindicted terror conspirators.
ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE FACT: The antics of this group directly led the British Parliament to recently declare a “climate emergency”.

Al Miller
July 7, 2019 8:40 am

Much like the tree huggers here in British Columbia who spiked trees to intentionally injure forest workers and hurled their own feces when they were approached by people trying to remove them, these useful idiots show their dangerous lunacy to the public and lose credibility quickly.

grimble grumble
Reply to  Al Miller
July 7, 2019 2:57 pm

Yes, and those same tree huggers that tried so hard to shut down our softwood lumber industry demand increasing amounts from government for their particular environmental issues while ignoring the obvious reality that government revenues came from resource exploitation.

u.k.(us)
July 7, 2019 10:34 am

The stock for falconers just went way up 🙂

Charlie Adamson
July 7, 2019 11:32 am

Every time I hear about groups and individuals such as the Extinction Rebellion, I remind myself to ALWAYS
follow the money. So before these people are sent off to their Ideal Island to practice their propaganda and preach their fearful ways, let’s find out where these people get their money and financial support, or their supplies. Those drones are not cheap.

Also the last time I heard about the “founders” of these groups they had been previously unemployable. With all these environmental groups springing up in the world and noting that they have become virulently hateful of humanity, don’t you think that it’s high time that their support infrastructure be found out and revealed for all to see? Who ever it is, has access to vast supplies of money and are well practiced it warping minds with propaganda.

I say that it is time to go hunting. How about you? It’s time to keep our eyes and ears open and take note. This would be a good community to begin to collect the information. WUWT readers have great skills of observation for the most part and tend to be well practiced in logic and reason as well as research.

July 7, 2019 12:38 pm

These are completely irresponsible idiots who will, hopefully, get what’s coming to them, if they really move forward with their plans.

https://www.uasvision.com/2019/03/19/uk-expands-no-fly-zone-to-5-kms-around-airports/

New legislation to extend the ‘no-fly’ zone around UK airports came into force 13 March 2019. It is now illegal to fly a drone within 5km of an airport, with major penalties for those who break the law.

All drone users should be aware that flying a drone within 5km of an airport or over 400ft is a serious criminal act, one which could put lives at risk and risks penalties ranging from significant fines to a life sentence.

July 7, 2019 2:16 pm

One solution might be to put all known members of Extinction Rebellion on an immediate and mandatory 12 year ‘no-fly’ list. The media luvvies first. No more flying for them. No more international awards ceremonies.

Let them lower their ‘carbon footprints’ first. Because isn’t that what they really want?

DCE
July 7, 2019 2:34 pm

I have a feeling if the drones did bring down a passenger aircraft and killed all aboard Extinction Rebellion would see that as a plus.

SDN
July 7, 2019 2:46 pm

Drones available to the public work on a limited number of frequencies which can be jammed —- and will be.

grimble grumble
July 7, 2019 2:53 pm

Put one or two of these jerks in prison for life and see if that has any impact on further such conduct.

MHJ
July 7, 2019 3:29 pm

“Sure the terrorists in both cases probably don’t want people to die…”

Why would you write that, though I love your qualifier, “probably”? They ACT as if they would rather people die than that their precious feelings be hurt.

People aren’t what they say, they are wat they do. If they do this, they want people to die.

David Cage
July 8, 2019 12:21 am

I notice none ever even contemplate going to court to prove their claims about fossil fuel causing the climate changes. Surely the first step before civil disobedience should be to prove the case in court. Since the claim is that it is proved beyond question the court requires only beyond reasonable doubt so it should be simple.
many of us would be far more amenable to listening to claims tested in open court with a legal requirement to reveal any information the prosecution has that could be used for defence.

michael hart
July 8, 2019 5:00 am

We’ve already had one big airport shutdown in the UK due to drones. The astonishing thing was that the authorities had no clear plan in place for something that people had openly talked about for years.

Heads should have rolled then. If it is allowed to happen again then they surely will.