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A True Atrocity

Posted by Tommy Neubauer on September 28, 2011 at 11:33pm

Man charged in plot to bomb Pentagon with model airplane

It looks to me that the sad day we all knew would eventually come has arrived. The first person that I have heard of plotting to use R/C planes to bomb the Pentagon and the Capital building. It appears he was planning to use some kind of autopilot given that they stated the plane was to be "GPS guided". Below is a link to the CNN page that has the details. I only hope this doesn't lead to a complete lock down of the R/C and sUAS industry. It is so young and ripe for growth and innovation. 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/us/massachusetts-pentagon-plot-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

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  • T.D. Gonzales September 30, 2011 at 9:20am

    The court proceedings on this are going to be interesting. I would hate to be that public defender. 

  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer September 30, 2011 at 5:04am

    All sorts of places watching this now heres a NS UK take

    http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/09/radio-control-...

     

     

  • Fabien Bruning September 30, 2011 at 4:51am

    While this is of course an atrocity, when reading a story about this in the media it seems more like people think this guy had access to Predator or Reaper type hardware and could do similar damage. What most journalists seem to forget is that a Predator is 14 meters wide, not something you can take-off with in a park.

     

    Furthermore, the expert in the AP raises a very valid point: if you detonate too soon, the C4 produces some fancy fireworks in the air, and if you detonate after impact your detonator will most likely have been destroyed by the crash and your C4 will do as much damage as a pack of clay. There's a reason military missiles cost thousands of dollars.

     

     

  • Moderator
    Mark Harrison September 29, 2011 at 11:07pm

    Over on rcgroups, they think they've found the guy's account: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=360508

    The questions the account owner has asked seem consistent with the reported stories.  He sounds awfully clueless.

    majidmng's blog - RC Groups
    RC Groups - the most active Radio Control model community: electric and fuel rc airplanes,rc helis,rc boats and rc cars. Features discussion forums,…
  • Martin Szymanski September 29, 2011 at 11:05pm

    The way the press is expressing this story is similar to the Boy in Balloon incident in Colorado.

    It was funny to see commercial news helicopters follow that flight.

    It was declare a Hoax after a week of investigation.

    This also in a way is a hoax.

    It will take time for many to discover the limited capabilities of these miniature planes.

    While playing in the parks there are many young inquiring minds that are very curious to how

    the operation of the model works. I have a great time explaining to them to start off small and grow.

    I hope this incident does not hinder the ability to educate young minds.

    Model rocketry lately is also under fire regarding transporation of Motors and igniters being declared as explosives. Yet there has never been a shipping explosion in history.

    I personally think cell phones are more dangerous for many reasons.

  • Richard Unwin September 29, 2011 at 9:50pm

    I was going to make a comment, but am now worried they might be tracking our activities 

  • Brent September 29, 2011 at 8:51pm

    Remember this is the same bunch that brought you "Project Gunrunner". So easy to whip up some fanatic on the internet then plant seeds in his twisted mind, " we can even get you a plane and some weapons for it" then take credit for the arrest while pointing out the threat to media.

  • Moderator
    Brian September 29, 2011 at 7:02pm

    At risk of sounding like one of the old timers in the AMA, I personally don't think it's too much to ask of the community, our community to be watchful and report suspicious/extreme behaviors exhibited by seemingly fellow enthusiasts.   That doesn't just go for our hobby here, it's other fun stuff too.  I like shooting guns, you can bet your buns that I'd report someone who exhibited extreme viewpoints followed by alarming actions, especially if they had a lot of firepower. 

     

    Not all terrorists are folks from "other places", it's been proven that the folks down the road can be domestic terrorists so a little vigilance seems to be in order.  I think that an organized campaign of education and watchfulness can only help our hobby.  Like it or not, we must show folks that we are adults, enjoying a hobby that we intend to keep around and that we will not tolerate  our hobby being used for hate-mongering. 

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson September 29, 2011 at 4:42pm

    Update from the Associated Press. Good, sensible stuff from a congressman at the bottom:

     

    "Counterterrorism experts and model-aircraft hobbyists said it would be nearly impossible to inflict large-scale damage of the sort Ferdaus allegedly envisioned using model planes. The aircraft are too small, can't carry enough explosives and are too tricky to fly, they said.

    "The idea of pushing a button and this thing diving into the Pentagon is kind of a joke, actually," said Greg Hahn, technical director of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

    Rick Nelson, a former Navy helicopter pilot who is now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Ferdaus would have had to hit a window or other vulnerable area to maximize damage, and that would have taken precision flying.

    "Flying a remote-controlled plane isn't as easy as it actually looks, and then to put an explosive on it and have that explosive detonate at the time and place that you want it add to the difficulty of actually doing it," he said.

    Ferdaus, a Muslim American from Ashland, was arrested after federal agents posing as al-Qaida members delivered what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive, authorities said. He was charged with attempting to damage or destroy a federal building with explosives. A federal affidavit claims he began planning "jihad" against the U.S. in early 2010 after becoming convinced through jihadi websites and videos that America was evil.

    Ferdaus had a physics degree from Northeastern University and enjoyed "taking stuff apart" and "learning on my own," according to court papers.

    The model planes Ferdaus eyed were the F-4 Phantom and the F-86 Sabre, small-scale versions of military jets, investigators said. The F-4 is the more expensive of the two, at up to $20,000, Hahn said. The F-86, one of which Ferdaus actually obtained, costs $6,000 to $10,000 new.

    Ferdaus' plan, as alleged in court papers, was to launch three such planes from a park near the Pentagon and Capitol and use GPS to direct them toward the buildings, where they would detonate on impact and blow the Capitol dome to "smithereens." He planned to pack five pounds of plastic explosives on each plane, according to prosecutors.

    James Crippin, an explosives and anti-terrorism expert, said that much C-4 could do serious damage — a half-pound will obliterate a car. But he said getting a stable explosive like C-4 to blow up at the right time would have been hugely difficult.

    And there were slim prospects of causing any serious damage to buildings like the Pentagon and Capitol, which are undoubtedly hardened to withstand explosions, according to Crippin, director of the Western Forensic Law Enforcement Training Center.

    "Basically, I think he's suffering from delusions of grandeur," he said.

    Hahn said the heavier of the two models Ferdaus was allegedly planning to use could carry a maximum of two pounds of plastic explosive before malfunctioning. That's not including the weight of any GPS system, he added.

    "It's almost impossible for him to get this done," he said.

    Remote-controlled aircraft have been considered by terrorists before. In 2008, Christopher Paul of Worthington, Ohio, a Columbus suburb, pleaded guilty to plotting terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Europe using explosive devices. Prosecutors said he researched remote-controlled boats and a remote-controlled 5-foot-long helicopter.

    And after Sept. 11, federal agents asked the Academy of Model Aeronautics' 143,000 members to watch for any fellow enthusiasts who might be buying planes with bad intentions.

    Well before the Massachusetts arrest, police in Montgomery County, Md., put out a terrorist warning to hobby shops

  • Aaron Bliesner September 29, 2011 at 3:03pm

    I love the "Darwin Award" comment.

    I'm worried about my hobby, but I can't imagine how subscribers to Islam and others with roots in the middle east must feel every time a whack job does something like this.  

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