Protest On Runway At Heathrow Airport - 13 July
Jul 13, 2015, 3:59 am
#46
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: East Anglia, England
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,056
What a nightmare way to begin the day! Hopefully the disruption is minimal.
As for the protesters and whether they are trespassers the law is quite clear:
This reminds of the 'Plane Stupid' protest that happened at STN in 2008. If I recall correctly, they were all charged and convicted of aggravated trespass. They received community work orders rather than custodial sentences.
There are better ways to express a view
H
As for the protesters and whether they are trespassers the law is quite clear:
Originally Posted by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, s. 68
1) A person commits the offence of aggravated trespass if he trespasses on land and, in relation to any lawful activity which persons are engaging in or are about to engage in on that or adjoining land, does there anything which is intended by him to have the effect--
(a) intimidating those persons or any of them so as to deter them or any of them from engaging in that activity,
(b) of obstructing that activity, or
(c) of disrupting that activity.
(a) intimidating those persons or any of them so as to deter them or any of them from engaging in that activity,
(b) of obstructing that activity, or
(c) of disrupting that activity.
There are better ways to express a view
H
Jul 13, 2015, 4:12 am
#47
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Sheffield, UK
Programs: BA - Silver,Hilton-Diamond, IHG - PlatAmb, GHA - Plat
Posts: 766
We are too namby pamby with these people, water hose them, and if that doesnt work, start a 747 engine test in the area, and see them be blown back to the other side of the fence...
Jul 13, 2015, 4:21 am
#48
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,476
What a nightmare way to begin the day! Hopefully the disruption is minimal.
As for the protesters and whether they are trespassers the law is quite clear:
This reminds of the 'Plane Stupid' protest that happened at STN in 2008. If I recall correctly, they were all charged and convicted of aggravated trespass. They received community work orders rather than custodial sentences.
There are better ways to express a view
H
As for the protesters and whether they are trespassers the law is quite clear:
This reminds of the 'Plane Stupid' protest that happened at STN in 2008. If I recall correctly, they were all charged and convicted of aggravated trespass. They received community work orders rather than custodial sentences.
There are better ways to express a view
H
In most cases, the negative publicity of taking civil action dissuades the affected company from taking it further, but in this case HAL might be well advised to seek some damages - relatively small fines are not going to be a barrier to Plane Stupid, or other groups, attempting this again.
Jul 13, 2015, 4:38 am
#49
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,838
No, didn't think so....
Jul 13, 2015, 4:44 am
#50
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, CX Gold (OW Sapphire), Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,476
I'd have left them in situ, and just got a 747 to line up and hold on the brakes a little before rolling.
Jul 13, 2015, 4:44 am
#51
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: US of A
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Posts: 1,775
To be fair, sitting on the runway for a few hours doesn't seem that bad. It's more comfortable when done inside of a plane though 
Jul 13, 2015, 5:07 am
#53
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,286
Forgive me if this is a stupid question but given the high levels of security screening inside the airport, why does Heathrow not take their perimeter security much more seriously? If this had been a team of well-trained Daesh militants, rather than a bunch of hippies, they may well have had explosives attached to the bodies of jets long before they were detected.
You'd have thought a second perimeter of razor wire inside the fence with IR beams running in the dead zone between would at least allow time for an armed response team to get anywhere on the airport before a potential terrorist got near an aircraft.
Would anyone care to guess what might have happened if they’d been caught (before chaining themselves up) doing this in a US airport? I suspect body bags would be involved.
You'd have thought a second perimeter of razor wire inside the fence with IR beams running in the dead zone between would at least allow time for an armed response team to get anywhere on the airport before a potential terrorist got near an aircraft.
Would anyone care to guess what might have happened if they’d been caught (before chaining themselves up) doing this in a US airport? I suspect body bags would be involved.
Jul 13, 2015, 5:14 am
#55
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,198
Forgive me if this is a stupid question but given the high levels of security screening inside the airport, why does Heathrow not take their perimeter security much more seriously? If this had been a team of well-trained Daesh militants, rather than a bunch of hippies, they may well have had explosives attached to the bodies of jets long before they were detected.
You'd have thought a second perimeter of razor wire inside the fence with IR beams running in the dead zone between would at least allow time for an armed response team to get anywhere on the airport before a potential terrorist got near an aircraft.
Would anyone care to guess what might have happened if they’d been caught (before chaining themselves up) doing this in a US airport? I suspect body bags would be involved.
You'd have thought a second perimeter of razor wire inside the fence with IR beams running in the dead zone between would at least allow time for an armed response team to get anywhere on the airport before a potential terrorist got near an aircraft.
Would anyone care to guess what might have happened if they’d been caught (before chaining themselves up) doing this in a US airport? I suspect body bags would be involved.
Well the second a bird breaks that IR beam, the airport gets shut down and the bird gets a few rounds of hot lead in the neck. Multiply this by about 20 times a day and oh dear.....
Jul 13, 2015, 5:16 am
#56
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: 59K
Posts: 2,301
Does anyone seriously believe that they could have got near an aircraft without a somewhat more robust response from the Police?
Jul 13, 2015, 5:17 am
#57
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,286
I have an IR security system around my premises and it is designed to not trigger when a cat or bird passes through it but will trigger if a human goes through it. I imagine HAL can probably afford similar levels of technological sophistication...
Jul 13, 2015, 5:20 am
#58
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,286
If everything is covered by CCTV how did they have time to lock themselves up on the runway before the police got to them? At that time of the night with blues and twos on you could have an ARV from one side of the airport to the other in under two minutes.
Jul 13, 2015, 5:20 am
#59
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: 59K
Posts: 2,301
They cut the wire and ran a hundred yards to the runway where they were coralled almost instantaneously.
It's not really very scary.
Jul 13, 2015, 5:23 am
#60
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: East Anglia, England
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,056
The fact that they've already been charged with Aviation offences suggests maybe there's a different tack being taken this time. However, the maximum fine under s.39 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 is currently, I believe, only £1,000 - peanuts compared to the cost of the disruption.
In most cases, the negative publicity of taking civil action dissuades the affected company from taking it further, but in this case HAL might be well advised to seek some damages - relatively small fines are not going to be a barrier to Plane Stupid, or other groups, attempting this again.
In most cases, the negative publicity of taking civil action dissuades the affected company from taking it further, but in this case HAL might be well advised to seek some damages - relatively small fines are not going to be a barrier to Plane Stupid, or other groups, attempting this again.
I personally would advocate criminal charges with a view of having community orders issued. Then again, I would
. But still a totality of events has to be looked at.H