Engineering news
Over the last few years, unsafe and irresponsible operations of unmanned aerial vehicles have put passenger aircraft in danger. Drones are cheap and readily available through retail outlets, but many commercial users are still unaware of regulations and often “fly beyond the visual line of sight without permission,” said Richard Taylor of the CAA.
The latest company to get a training course approved by the CAA is retailer DronesDirect.co.uk. The course is run by an ex-military and commercial drone pilot over three days. At the end of the course, pilots will have Permission for Commercial Operations accreditation by the CAA.
The trainees need to submit an operations manual, detailing what applications the drones are assigned to and even what medication the user takes. As the accreditation is a requirement by UK law for the commercial operations, the company sees the course as a “commitment to the responsible use of drones”, said Tim Morley, business unit manager at DronesDirect.co.uk.
The course provides training in air law and regulations, navigation and air space, map exercises, aircraft knowledge and safety, weather operations and human factors to ensure that accidents can be avoided. Photographers will be taught how to perform drone photography for their business, while those in the construction field will be trained in drone utility inspections.
Last year, the aviation sector reported 56 incidents of near-misses between drones and airplanes. One incident involved a 60cm wide drone almost colliding with the right wing of a Boeing 767 that was about to land at Manchester airport. Another involved a football-sized drone coming within 20 metres of an Airbus A320 on its way to Heathrow.
As a response to the rise in popularity for commercial drones, the CAA has set a strict code for such operations, requiring all commercial drones to be registered with them. All drones must fly within line of sight and cannot exceed a height of 120 metres and no further than 500 metres away from the user. Drones equipped with cameras are also not permitted to fly within 50 metres of people, vehicles and vessels, buildings and must be 150 metres away from congested areas.
Currently, drone users can be fined £2,500 for infiltrating “no-fly zones,” such as airports and prisons, which the UK government proposes to increase to discourage negligent drone practices. The government also suggests electronic tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles for police to easily identify any law-breakers.
The drone market – currently valued at £1.6 billion – is estimated to inflate to more than £100 billion by 2020, with commercial uses of drones including deliveries, surveillance for agriculture and construction, as well as supervising oil rigs.
Other drone retailers offering CAA-approved training courses include HeliGuy.com and Quadcopters.co.uk.