Should you (like most of us) be planning an overseas trip in the coming months, you may be concerned about any potential terrorist threats. The threat has reached a whole new level, given the latest incident, whereby a drone hit a BA plane. We need to ask how long it will be before terrorists use drones in an attack.
An investigation has begun, following Sunday’s incident whereby a BA plane was struck by a drone. It was reported that the plane on flight BA727 from Geneva, Switzerland had been hit as the airbus arrived at Heathrow Airport, London. Fortunately, none of the 132 passengers were injured, as the aircraft was able to land safely. BA’s engineers then checked the plane before clearing it for its next flight.
Both the Air Accidents Investigations Branch and the police have begun an investigation into this incident, but as yet no arrests have been made. Given the frightening fact that last year, there were 23 near misses involving drones, all within a 6-month period, with two of those being at Heathrow and one at Gatwick, we need to question where this leaves us with regard to a potential terrorist threat.
Flight specialist, Steve Landells, has asked for greater awareness of rules and better enforcement over drone flights. He stated: “Frankly it was only a matter of time before we had a drone strike given the huge numbers being flown around by amateurs who don’t understand the risks and rules.”
As Isis have this morning marked the beginning of their summer tirade of terror with suicide bombings, and their so-called ‘promise’ to attack both the UK and the USA, something needs to be done to curb the very open danger that the use of drones carries.
Transport Minister Robert Goodwill has stated that ministers are looking into introducing a drone registration scheme in the UK. Hopefully, they will be quick about it.
You must be logged in to post a comment.