B-h Gull takes out a drone (1 Viewer)

[Andy Adcock]

Credible?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-54476734

And where are this birds legs?

 

[sbarnhardt]

Credible? I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility, at a minimum! Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if a small amount of damage to one propeller might be enough to throw it all out of sync and cause it to go down.
Lucky strike to it's Achilles Heel and boom??

 

[sbarnhardt]

Read the "after report"............ and what it says and the BBC report pretty much follow the same line.

Opus has that gull at 195-325 g weight which doesn't seem all that much, but then again, if this thing was flying "low and slow" as I'd expect it to be doing a roof survey and an aggressive bird hit the drone "just right" disrupting the flight process, would it have had sufficient altitude and/or time to recover?

But all the news reports I found by Googling the name of the school along with gull and strike only returned the BBC report and mentions of it on STV, which I"m not familiar with here in the United States.

Possible?? I'd have to say yes!

Credible? How much credibility would you normally give to a BBC report? Again, I have no great experience with them like you guys on your side of the Atlantic. Are they usually credible? Can you usually believe what they report? You tell me!! But I'd feel better about it if there were more than the one report about it.

 

[Phil Andrews]

Read the "after report"............ and what it says and the BBC report pretty much follow the same line.

Opus has that gull at 195-325 g weight which doesn't seem all that much, but then again, if this thing was flying "low and slow" as I'd expect it to be doing a roof survey and an aggressive bird hit the drone "just right" disrupting the flight process, would it have had sufficient altitude and/or time to recover?

But all the news reports I found by Googling the name of the school along with gull and strike only returned the BBC report and mentions of it on STV, which I"m not familiar with here in the United States.

Possible?? I'd have to say yes!

Credible? How much credibility would you normally give to a BBC report? Again, I have no great experience with them like you guys on your side of the Atlantic. Are they usually credible? Can you usually believe what they report? You tell me!! But I'd feel better about it if there were more than the one report about it.

I think its credibility has nothing to do with the BBC - they are simply relaying a report of the Air Accident Investigtion Board, a government organisation. My starting point would be whether the identification of the culprit is correct.

 

[dantheman]

Credible? How much credibility would you normally give to a BBC report? Again, I have no great experience with them like you guys on your side of the Atlantic. Are they usually credible? Can you usually believe what they report? You tell me!! But I'd feel better about it if there were more than the one report about it.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/gull-attack-brings-down-drone-stranraer-2997661

Not sure the whole point of the story? Anti-wildlife? Slow news day?

I assume the drone was being flown to survey for nesting rooftop gulls, in which case you can understand that the gull would have seen it as a predator. Maybe it's just rare for one to be taken out, which makes it interesting. It's also interesting to note that it's being investigated by the AAIB, although I guess as drone flying is still relatively in its infancy that it is a very good thing to monitor all (commercial) incidents.

 

[dantheman]

Surprising that it was reported to the AAIB by the operator, but maybe he had to report it for insurance purposes (I note used price on ebay £4400 via google!!). So maybe we do need to assess if it was credible. Maybe he just sneezed/lost control hence blaming it on the bird ... do we sense a conspiracy/able to make one up?!?

 

[Andy Adcock]

Surprising that it was reported to the AAIB by the operator, but maybe he had to report it for insurance purposes (I note used price on ebay £4400 via google!!). So maybe we do need to assess if it was credible. Maybe he just sneezed/lost control hence blaming it on the bird ... do we sense a conspiracy/able to make one up?!?

My query, which no one seems to have grasped although Phil was close, was whether a B-h Gull was physically capable of taking out a drone.

 

[dantheman]

My query, which no one seems to have grasped although Phil was close, was whether a B-h Gull was physically capable of taking out a drone.

Sbarnhardt had already answered that in post#3 I thought? I would agree that it is possible, but I remain a bit surprised too as I thought those things could automatically fly on 3 propellors. (Unless it was low level above the roof and didn't have time to adjust, perhaps?)

Whether it was a misid or not depends partly on whether BH Gulls are likely to nest on roofs in Stranraer for one thing ... it was July so if it actually was a physical gull attack (and not a fabrication for insurance purposes) then you would have thought the id would be straightforward ...

 

[PYRTLE]

Legs up into the undercarriage bay?

Report doesn't say whether the b.h.gull survived after collision, and agree that a report was filed as required by the AAIB to comply with a commercial operator's licence and for insurance claim

 

[dantheman]

I was just going to say that the photo in the article is presumably a stock photo and the bird didn't lose its legs in the incident

I also go back on what I said earlier about it being a survey for nesting gulls - no idea whether that or used for eg structural building surveying?

 

[YuShan]

And where are this birds legs?

Cut off by a drone propellor?

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Why must there be a conspiracy? There’s nothing to suggest the operator was ‘anti-bird’ in fact, according to the bbc the operator had used the drone before and had operated it ‘with care’ around nesting birds suggesting this was a regular roof survey. This doesn’t sound like someone out to doing anything nefarious to the birds nesting on the roof. Using a drone to do a roof survey is a cheap way of carrying out a survey rather than putting up scaffolding and having someone walking around up there - In fact the latter method is likely to cause more disturbance to nesting gulls than a drone. If I had a drone, I would regularly use it to check for wear and tear on my roof and chimney and to check if my gutters were blocked!

 

[dantheman]

Why must there be a conspiracy? There’s nothing to suggest the operator was ‘anti-bird’ in fact, according to the bbc the operator had used the drone before and had operated it ‘with care’ around nesting birds suggesting this was a regular roof survey. This doesn’t sound like someone out to doing anything nefarious to the birds nesting on the roof. Using a drone to do a roof survey is a cheap way of carrying out a survey rather than putting up scaffolding and having someone walking around up there - In fact the latter method is likely to cause more disturbance to nesting gulls than a drone. If I had a drone, I would regularly use it to check for wear and tear on my roof and chimney and to check if my gutters were blocked!

There doesn't have to be ... think we're just playing along with the suggestion in the OP and possible scenarios (no suggest of nefarious practices to breeding birds). What are your thoughts on a c£9000 (new price), 6.2kg drone being taken out by a small bird like a BH Gull?

 

[YuShan]

I'm not familiar enough with drones to know if it comes down when one or two of the propellers break because of a crash with a gull. But I can imagine if it was flying close to a roof or wall, that such an incident could cause a change of direction that then make it smash into the wall or roof, wrecking it completely.

 

[DMW]

There doesn't have to be ... think we're just playing along with the suggestion in the OP and possible scenarios (no suggest of nefarious practices to breeding birds). What are your thoughts on a c£9000 (new price), 6.2kg drone being taken out by a small bird like a BH Gull?

If gulls can take down a 48,500kg Airbus, I think a 6.2kg drone isn't too much of a stretch!

 

[Mono]

Once a month the AAIB publishes its accident reports. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-accident-monthly-bulletin-october-2020

The press read through them and knock up an article on anything they consider newsworthy. Gull attacks drone is worth a click.

 

[dantheman]

If gulls can take down a 48,500kg Airbus, I think a 6.2kg drone isn't too much of a stretch!

Different speed and modus operandi perhaps, but yes.

Once a month the AAIB publishes its accident reports. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-accident-monthly-bulletin-october-2020

The press read through them and knock up an article on anything they consider newsworthy. Gull attacks drone is worth a click.

Nice one.


I would still contend that, if there is no evidence to the contrary, a gull attack would provide a good cover story for an insurance claim if one were needed (ie crashing through pilot error was not covered by insurance. (That would just be my opinion on an internet social media platform though, and not a view I would strongly hold on to). If the gull did indeed attack the drone and came off unscathed, then, tbh, total kudos to the gull.



Folk will recall previous stories of eagles(?) being trained to attack enemy survelliance drones. Don't know the outcome and whether still being deployed.

 

[Nutcracker]

Black-headed Gulls don't usually nest on rooftops, Herring Gulls do, and are much more likely to attack - I suspect the bird has been misidentified :t:


Well done the gull, though!! :king:

 

[Andy Adcock]

We should aslo be asking if there's any video of the attack?

Eagles are another matter completely but no way a B-h G, knocks a 6kg drone out of the sky, would be a mean feat for a Herring Gull too