Airspace regulator CASA on collision course with drones

AUSTRALIA’S airspace regulator is cracking down on recreational drone operators, with a Townsville pilot fined $850 last month.

Breaches for drone operators include flying less than 5.5km from an airport. Picture: Timothy Clapin

AUSTRALIA’S airspace regulator is cracking down on recreational drone operators, with a Townsville drone pilot receiving an $850 fine last month.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority fined the operator after being alerted to YouTube videos showing a popular Chinese-made DJI Phantom drone flying near the Townsville airport.

CASA said that since 2009, it had issued just 13 aviation infringement notices related to drones. That number could be set to soar as drones sales skyrocket.

Fines for recreational drone users can range to $8500 for breaches it refers to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

“If it comes to CASA’s attention that there has been an infringement to the safety regulations by a ‘drone … then we will ­investigate it,” a spokesman said.

CASA also has warned that flying drones with the upcoming Oculus Rift virtual reality headset breached regulations. French manufacturer Parrot’s upcoming Bebop drone lets a user don a headset and fly as if they were sitting in the cockpit.

The drone transmits an immersive view from inside the drone’s virtual cockpit, but CASA said this was not allowed.

“Piloting RPAs (remote piloted aircraft) via first person view is currently not permitted, as the operator is required to maintain line-of-sight with the aircraft,” the spokesman said.

“The safety concept behind this is that by maintaining line-of-sight, the operator can see how the aircraft is situated in relation to its surrounding environment.”

Breaches for drone operators included flying less than 5.5km from an airport, more than 120m high, at night, over populous areas, and within 30m of people not associated with flights.

Drones are causing regulators headaches around the world. Last week a drone flew undetected before crashing on the grounds of the White House; a few days earlier, one with a payload of methamphetamines crashed in a car park in Tijuana, Mexico.

The Australian spoke with CASA about new, autonomous drones on show at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show that can be preprogrammed with a flight plan to fly without being manually piloted. CASA said these drones could be flown legally provided the piloted was still in control. “Fully autonomous flights are still some way off,” the spokesman said. “Current technology enables users to pre-program a specific route. But this kind of flight is by no means ‘autonomous’, as the operator is still required to pilot the aircraft over the designated route.

“Operators are able to fly using pre-programmed capability, as long as they abide by the safety regulations.”

CASA at this stage wasn’t looking at forcing drones to use new collision-avoidance technology now coming to market.

“Collision-avoidance technology in RPAs is still very much in its infancy and not currently widely available,” the spokesman said. “As a result CASA currently employs airspace segregation or other means to ensure traffic separation. “

Nor was CASA looking at reserving certain levels of airspace for commercial activities such as drone pizza delivery, nor for police and emergency service drones. But it didn’t rule this for consideration later.

“This will no doubt be an ongoing joint effort with Airservices Australia and the Australian RPA industry, both of which CASA has a close working relationship with,” the spokesman said.

CASA is reviewing the relevant safety regulations around drone operations and plans to have a draft of the proposed changes by midyear.