In mid October, Sydney Harbour Bridge was the subject of a security scare and investigation into an unmanned drone that crashed into the bri...
In mid October, Sydney Harbour Bridge was the subject of a security scare and investigation into an unmanned drone that crashed into the bridge, and ended up on the railway tracks. The train driver saw an unusual object, and thought someone had flown a bomb on to the tracks. Aussie: 10 years ago I would have called the train driver a paranoid idiot, but with all the fruitcakes and nutjobs around lately (particularly those in the name of their "God"), I don't blame him for being paranoid. Video 1 shows the shortened version (and I added some background tunes that I like), while Video 2 shows a longer clip as originally uploaded to the interwebs with more footage (if you are interested in 10 minutes of footage) of the unusual journey of the drone that caused the security scare. The footage has now surfaced, where the drone was launched by British man Edward Prescott. When the vehicle collided with a bridge girder and landed on the train line, it sparked an investigation by police and air safety authorities. The drone's camera was rolling the entire time it flew through and then into the Harbour Bridge, landed on a railway line, was picked up by Sydney Trains crew, placed in the train and taken back to their office and investigated. The drone (allegedly) went out of control because the camera mounting failed, but the drone tried to return to its starting point using GPS. After it crashes on to the rail line on the western side of the bridge a train is seen pulling up. The train driver picks up the quadrocopter and reports on his radio: "It's an odd looking plane, it's got a red light flashing, I don't know whether it's a bomb or not." Aussie: the odd thing here is that the thinks it is a bomb, yet carries it with him to the next station and hands it off ? WTF ? "That's a first... a model aeroplane that crashed on the bridge," he tells her. "It was in the road of the train so I jumped down and grabbed it." After a brief stay on a platform office desk, the drone is given to another Sydney Trains worker who takes it to another office. "It's got one camera lens. And it's flashing, like it's red now," the worker says, peering straight into the camera's lens. He's then seen taking photos of the drone while his curious colleagues look on. Mr Prescott, who was in Sydney as part of the support crew for US singer Rihanna's Australia tour, says he was testing new equipment on his drone when he lost control of it. He says he never intended for it to fly into the bridge. Thinking his drone was lost to the harbour, it was not until he read about a "mystery drone" in the news that he realised what had happened. "Imagine my surprise when the results of the internet search came back with a plethora of media sites from around the world carrying a story about a 'mystery drone', counter-terrorism investigation and a police hunt for the owner. "Needless to say I contacted the aviation authorities and Sydney police immediately," he says. A spokesman for NSW Police said the matter was investigated and deemed not suspicious. He said that the police team managing the International Fleet Review, which started the next day and which included counter terrorism officers, were notified but that it was handled by police transport command. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority completed a review of the incident but has yet to decide what action, if any, to take. #financial_support_div{ display:none; position: absolute; width:300px; height:140px; margin-left: -150px; margin-top: -70px; /*- half of width and height */ top:50%; left:50%; padding: 5px; opacity:0.9; filter:alpha(opacity=90); z-index:1000; background-color:#000; color: white; } .close_box{ background: gray; color:#fff; padding:1px 3px; display:inline; position:absolute; right:1px; margin-right: -13px; margin-top: -13px; border-radius:3px; cursor:pointer; border: 1px #000 solid; } $(document).on("click",".close_box",function(){ $(this).parent().fadeTo(300,0,function(){ $(this).remove(); }); }); Loading the player ... Less
