According to leading expert, drones could be used as flying explosive devices used by terrorists to down commercial passenger planes.
Prof David H. Dunn of the University of Birmingham said that terrorists could fly any number of remote-controlled unmanned areal aircraft into the engines of a passenger jet, causing its engines to fail and the plane to crash.
These warnings come after a near-miss incident in London’s Heathrow Airport in July, where a mobile helicopter came within 20 feet of an Airbus A320 passenger jet as both aircraft were approximately 700 feet above the runway. The drone was not picked up on radar because of its small size.
Prof Dunn – co-author of a recent Birmingham University report on drones requesting that urgent measures of protection be taken – explained:
“Chances are this [mobile helicopter] was a civilian drone that got lost by an operator who lost sight of it. But what if that was a terrorist that had bought several drones on the internet? They could surround the aircraft with multiple drones at 200 feet after take-off and take out the engines and leave it with nowhere else to go. It would be the equivalent of … a suicide bomb only the terrorist could fly it remotely, with impunity.These drones can be bought anonymously online, piloted anonymously and the attacker would be untraceable because they are completely unlicensed.”
According to Prof. Dunn, terrorists use of drones within the United Kingdom’s own borders could leave crowds of people or large events vulnerable to chemical weapons or flammable liquids.
Dunn suggested that the British government look into implementing a laser defense system similar to that of the Chinese government.
