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A Scotsman managed to maneuver his $500 hobby drone past armed security guards and patrol boats and successfully land his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth—a new 70,000 warship and aircraft carrier which cost the Royal Navy $5 billion—while docked in Scotland last month, according to the 9News.AU.
The drone pilot merely wanted some high-quality footage of the ship, and had nothing nefarious up his sleeve, according to the 9News.AU. He, too, was stunned at how simple it was to get a drone past the seemingly tight security measures in place to prevent this sort of thing.
“I was amazed that I was able to land on the aircraft carrier for two reasons, the first being that there was no one about to prevent it from landing, although were security police around in small boats who were waving at the drone.” The man has yet to be identified but has been speaking to the local media about the incident.
“The second reason was more technical. I received a high wind warning as I was videoing up and down the flight deck and my control system advised me to land,” said the anonymous drone pilot. Apparently, the footage he was able to capture present an aircraft carrier completely devoid of a crew and deserted by any and all members of its fleet. The pilot puts it well, saying he found nothing but a “ghost ship,” and that “There was absolutely no one around when I landed.”
Since this person caused no damage and apparently posed no security risk, even though he breached some restricted areas with his UAV, he contacted people in charge at the Invergordon port to relay his concerns regarding the ease with which he was able to enter this restricted space. He was told that his worries would be “passed up the chain of command.” Even the Ministry of Defence issued a statement, saying “We take the security of the HMS Queen Elizabeth very seriously.”
Lord West, Former Royal Navy chief, offered DailyMail a more worrying angle on things, stating that “Daesh are already using drones to deliver bombs in Syria, so I think it is something we need to take very seriously.” All the mischievous fun and drone-related shenanigans seem to take a dark turn these days, which is merely a reflection of the world we live in. You can’t sneak onto private property with your UAV without an official statement referencing the Islamic State terrorist group being made. Thankfully, this drone pilot just wanted some good footage – and told authorities about his concerns. Well, done, anonymous pilot.
