No drone zone

Do not be deceived by their small size, resemblance to a child’s toy or the delightful stunts they perform. The recreational drones that are increasingly common in Canadian skies could bring down a passenger jet and the federal government was absolutely right to introduce tough new restrictions on them last week.

Affordable, fairly easy to fly and, under the right circumstances, good fun, recreational drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles) have literally taken off in the past few years to become a wildly popular fad.

But the unwanted result has been thousands of people with no formal training in using the devices and no aviation experience whatsoever suddenly enjoying access to shared and restricted airspace. As if on cue, the number of frightening altercations between planes and recreational drones in Canada has more than tripled since 2014. While they have their suspicions, aviation authorities still don’t know if it was a drone that caused an airplane headed for Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport with 54 passengers aboard last November to make a steep dive to avoid a mid-air collision – injuring two crew members in the process.

The authorities do know that Pearson International Airport closed a runway in 2014 and the Vancouver airport stopped two planes from taking off in 2015 because recreational drones were too close for comfort.

They know that in August of that year, a clueless drone operator flew one of the vehicles over a British Columbia wildfire, grounding for five hours eight helicopters, five skimmer planes and their firefighter crews.

And they probably know that last June, a drone smashed into a British Airways jet with 137 people aboard as it prepared to land at Britain’s Heathrow Airport.

While the Airbus landed safely, the head of the U.K. Flight Safety Committee warned a collision with even a small drone could bring down a passenger plane by causing an engine fire or failure. Until last week, Transport Canada’s toothless response to recreational drones came in guidelines that included neither firm regulations nor fines. The new rules now in effect apply to aircraft weighing between 250 grams and 37 kilograms. They prohibit recreational drone operators from flying their vehicles within nine kilometres of any airport.

Flying the aircraft higher than 90 metres in the air, within 75 metres of buildings, people or vehicles, at night or in cloudy conditions is also forbidden. And all recreational drone operators must mark their drones with their contact information. Violating the new rules could bring fines of up to $3,000 for individuals and $15,000 for corporations. To some people, the new rules will seem draconian. In our view, the federal government deserves applause for acting now – before a recreational drone and its irresponsible operator cause a catastrophe.

Drone operators who disagree can lobby the government before last week’s interim measures become formal regulations, likely in June.

The skies over Canada may be vast. In many cases, however, they have no room for drones.