£35 pilotless drones a risk to airliners as near misses have occurred.
2014’s popular Christmas present were drones and there are dangers in the skies.
The Civil Aviation Authority has issued guidelines on the use of drones in the UK as the ever popular flying devices pose a threat including to airports and airliners. They should not fly higher than 400 feet and are not permitted to be flown within 500 feet of any densely populated area. In addition they should not fly within 165 feet of any person, vehicle or structure except during take-off.
Recently a passenger jet at 700 feet came close to hitting a small amateur-operated drone near Heathrow, and the drone did not show up on air traffic control systems. Pilots union Balpa called for regulation to ensure drones sharing air space with piloted crafts can be flown only by trained operators. The General Secretary Jim McAuslan said “The technology is developing quickly and we could see remote aircraft the same size as a Boeing 737 being operated commercially in our skies within ten years”.
News on drones in India include trial runs of pizza delivery to first floor flats by drone, and Amazon is doing research on possibly delivering packages by drone in the near future. Drones are also being used for monitoring farmer’s crops.
The world’s most popular drone is the DJI Phantom priced at £390 though there are many much cheaper models on the market. This drone can fly at up to 22mph. The Parrot AR 2.0 Elite priced at £320 can be steered with a smartphone via wi-fi. It includes a HD camera. Up to 2,000 drones per month are being sold in the UK, the most sophisticated designs costing £3,000.
Regulating the use of drones has included fining one owner of a remote-controlled plane £4,000 after his machine crashed in a no-fly zone near a shipyard in Cumbria for defence company BAE systems where nuclear subs were being built.
A conference on unmanned craft in London in November 2014 included police expressing fears that accidents might occur around boxing day when amateur “pilots” experiment with their new drones.
We will keep you updated on drone issues in due course.