The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is calling for tighter rules and standards after a drone nearly collided with a passenger plane.
Investigators have been looking into a near-collision between an Air New Zealand passenger flight and what was likely a drone in April, 2024, after a close call at 2000 feet on the approach to Auckland Airport. RNZ Reports.
UAVNZ Chair, Isaac Henderson comments:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles NZ chair Dr Isaac Henderson said the situation could have been much worse.
“The most likely situation would be a very expensive repair job, but if it got into the engine, you could have an engine fire,” he said. “If it hit the cockpit’s windshield, you could have it breaking glass and injuring pilots,
“It certainly has the potential to put people’s lives at risk and it’s a bit like a game of ‘Russian Roulette’ – the chances are you’re not going to get hurt, but there is the potential you could.”
Henderson said a licensing system would have many benefits.
“We could restrict more what you could do with a drone, if you don’t have a license,” he said. “You could trust someone to buy a drone, they watch some video which they have to do, and they know how to fly in a shielded area and a few other basic things.
“Maybe we call that a basic pilot qualification and it comes with a registration from the user.”
The next step would be a move to licensing for those wanting to operate in different types of airspace or fly larger drones, Henderson said.
“Then you have the high-risk stuff as reserved for certification, which is when an organisation gets approved to conduct certain types of operations under certain types of procedures, like training, risk assessment, all of that stuff.”
Henderson said doing so would bring drones in line with the rest of aviation, benefiting legitimate operators and cracking down on bad-actors.
Research quoted in the TAIC report and co-authored by Henderson found about 1.3 percent of drone operators broke three or more civil aviation rules.
“Those are probably your rogue operators that really need the enforcement, like giving some people speeding tickets to remind them they actually have to follow the speed limit,” he said. “The same should be applying to the civil aviation rules.
“The only unique thing with drones, compared to other types, is there’s no barrier to entry, all you need is a credit card and a trip to Noel Leeming, and there you go – you can be a commercial drone operator.”
He said, while it couldn’t be certain it was a drone, it was helpful for the Commission to make findings under that assumption. The low public acceptance of drone operations has been a concern for some time.
“There can be legitimate operations in controlled airspace, in close proximity to airports and aerodromes, and those are routinely done across the country almost everyday of the week,” he said.
“It’s about doing them correctly.”
Read the full RNZ article by Finn Blackwell here