Pilots call for drone licensing

Pilots are calling for compulsory drone registration after dozens of complaints about remotely piloted aircraft in Otago yielded only a single warning letter from the Civil Aviation Authority.

Figures supplied  by the CAA under the Official Information Act show  50 complaints  in Otago in the past four years.

One complaint, involving a pilot repeatedly flying a drone in controlled airspace in Queenstown and Dunedin, resulted in a warning letter, but none led to an infringement notice or prosecution by the CAA.

Police prosecuted a Chilean tourist after he interfered with helicopters fighting a fire near Wanaka  when he was attempting to  photograph the blaze with his drone. He was  convicted of careless use of his drone and ordered to forfeit it.

Earlier this month, St Kilda woman Jodie Smither complained to the CAA after she said her children were filmed by a drone while playing in their backyard. Ms Smither said yesterday it was not good enough that dozens of complaints had resulted in only a single warning letter.

"That’s absolute bull***.  They [the CAA] need to up their game."

New Zealand Airline Pilots’ Association president and commercial airline pilot Tim Robinson said he wanted compulsory registration for drones over 250g, which included many commonly-available consumer-grade drones able to supply a live video feed.

Registration would help the CAA ensure drone owners knew the rules, which included not flying over people or private property without their consent, staying below 120m and keeping more than 4km away from airports without prior authorisation, he said.

"Once you’ve got drones and their pilots being registered, then you can target their education."

He thought drones above 15kg, which included models used by professionals to film sports events, should be subject to pilot licensing and airworthiness checks, but he did not think licences were required for smaller models.

"Most of those lighter ones, they’re mum, dad and kids getting one under the Christmas tree and they’re wanting to go and fly it. I think licensing for them would be too onerous. But they need to be aware of the rules," Mr Robinson said.

Helicopters Otago owner and Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust chief pilot Graeme Gale said registration would be a "good start".

"They’re a major hazard and they will eventually take out an aircraft."

Royal Albatross Centre assistant manager Ashleigh Compton said there were ongoing issues with drones flying near the centre at Taiaroa Head, despite signs warning they were prohibited. In 2016, a drone crashed near an albatross nesting area. Ms Compton supported mandatory registration and licensing of drones, which she said were too easy to access.

"A requirement just like a car licence would be a good thing."

Extreme Hobbies store manager Neil Day, who has 15 years’ experience piloting remote-controlled aircraft, did not support calls for compulsory registration of drones above 250g.

"Enough people don’t put regos and warrants on their car, let alone register their drones."

"You could make something under 250g solid enough to take out a jet engine and go higher than 2km. Weight regulation’s going to stop nothing."

Mr Day said better public education was required, and suggested screening advertisements similar to those used in anti drink-driving campaigns.

"Stage a plane crashing into a drone and put it on TV. At least that’d catch some attention."

george.block@odt.co.nz

Comments

Education is the key , not CAA taking on a presumption that all of the air space in the country belongs to them.

No point in registration it’s not going to do anything. Those that are already flying outside of the current regulations are not going to register as they are already breaking the rules. They will simply do the same with registration fly with out registration and still fly out side of regulation. It’s only going to hurt those that respect and obey the current rules already. I think allot of pilots cry about drones and quads with little understanding of what the facts are because they are blinded by poor sensationalised reporting in the media that has very little fact to the content. Look at the article about the aero plane that the window caved in on the plane up at waihii. Report who happened to be a pilot automatically blames a drone with out evidence not only that was ruling out many other possibilities which had as much or more feasibility than his drone theory. Education at the point of sale and point of entry into the country would be more effective. Compulsory leaflet is given with every quad/drone that is sold within nz would be a start and instead of sensationalised BS in the media how bout they astart an education campaign rather than the BS Reported at the moment.

 

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