Daily BrewDrones and airplanes often have close encounters in Canada
This week’s narrowly-avoided collision between a drone and a seaplane in Vancouver was not a one-of-a-kind incident.
In fact, it is one of many close encounters airplanes have had with drones in Canada in recent years.
As the popularity of drones, also known as unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) grows, so too does the risk of serious collision.
Transport Canada launched 69 investigations across the country into incidents involving drones in 2014, spokeswoman Roxane Marchand told Yahoo Canada News in an emailed statement.
Incidents involving drones recorded in Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) have increased dramatically over the last two years.
Before 2014, there were three or fewer CADORS reports about drone activity per year going back to 2002, according to a Global News investigation.
So far this year, there have been 30.
Among those was a Cessna 177 that had to take evasive action to avoid a drone on a flight from Boundary Bay, B.C., in March.
In July, someone was caught operating a drone in a park north of Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport.
None of the CADORS entries from 2015 mention collisions or injuries. Still, the danger is real.
“They’re the size of a large bird,” Orca Airways chief pilot Richard Taylor told the National Post. “I certainly wouldn’t want one to hit the airplane at 60 knots. If one went through a jet engine, then we’re really talking problems.”
Playing by the rules
While drones are still relatively new, there are rules for operating them.
“Using a UAV in a reckless and negligent manner could cause damage or bodily harm, resulting in lawsuits, fines and jail time,” Marchand said in the email.
If a drone weighs more than 25 kilograms or is being used for commercial or research purposes, operators must obtain a Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada.
That certificates come with a set of rules, including that drones not be operated within nine kilometres of an airport. Violating this rule could net a $3,000 fine for an individual, or $15,000 for a business. Flying without a certificate carries a $5,000 fine for an individual or $25,000 for a business.
But anyone is allowed to use a smaller drone for recreational purposes — no special permission required.
Transport Canada does, however, have a set of guidelines on its website for recreational drone users.
It stipulates that drones cannot be flown:
Closer than nine kilometres from any airport, heliport, or aerodrome.
Higher than 90 metres from above the ground.
Closer than 150 metres from people, animals, buildings, structures, or vehicles.
In populated areas or near large groups of people, including sporting events, concerts, festivals, and firework shows.
Near moving vehicles, avoid highways, bridges, busy streets or anywhere you could endanger or distract drivers.
Within restricted airspace, including near or over military bases, prisons and forest fires.
Anywhere you may interfere with first responders.
These are just guidelines, not hard and fast rules.
And they’re not easy to follow. For example, there are almost no spaces in Toronto that aren’t within nine kilometres of an airport or near buildings, vehicles or large groups of people.
Still, anyone operating a drone is subject to Canadian Aviation Regulations, which state that it is illegal to do anything that puts aviation safety at risk.
“If an incident is reported to the department, one of our inspectors will verify that the operator followed the rules and used the aircraft safely,” Transport Canada said on its website.
If someone is determined to have put aviation safety at risk with a drone, he or she could be criminally charged and face either fines or even prison time, depending on the nature of the offence.
What’s more, trespassing and privacy laws apply to drone operators.
Are the rules strong enough?
Some municipalities have taken it a step further and placed their own restrictions on drones.
Richmond, B.C., home to Vancouver’s international airport, banned them in all city parks and school grounds in April this year.
Monday’s near-collision in Vancouver comes a week after Richmond RCMP, which wasn’t available for comment, launched an investigation into a drone reportedly flying dangerously close to landing planes at the airport.
In announcing that investigation, RCMP Sgt. Cam Kowalski told CBC News flying the devices near airports is “incredibly dangerous and incredibly stupid.”
“It puts people in danger and puts them at risk, puts the community at risk,” Kowalski said. “We take these incidents very seriously.”
The Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) believes Canada and other countries need to step up their regulation of drones.
An ACPA spokesperson was not available for comment Friday, but pointed Yahoo Canada News to the group’s official position paper on the issue, which states that drones should be treated like any other aircraft.
Drones “should be operated in accordance with the rules governing the flight of manned aircraft and meet equipment requirements applicable to the class of airspace within which they intend to operate,” it reads.
The ACPA notes that Canada is a member state of the International Civil Aviation Organization, special agency of the United Nations, which has called for a single, cohesive policy on drone regulation across all member countries.
Transport Canada says on its site that it is in the process of reviewing its drone regulation “to address the growing popularity and economic importance of UAVs and integrate them safely into Canadian airspace.”
