Drones cause problems at Te Anau
Plans are in place to deter drone usage in Te Anau, after a spate of close calls with aircraft in recent months.
In response to the incidents, the Southland District Council will be setting up signage on the Te Anau lakefront to prohibit drone use.
Southern Lakes Helicopters operations manager Lloyd Matheson said there had been three near misses with aircraft on the lake during the past six months, with several other reports of drone activity while aircraft were not operational.
Matheson said most of the incidents had occurred during the busy summer season, by tourists unfamiliar with the airport and its flight plans.
‘‘They’re a bit unaware of the activities of the aircraft on the waterfront.
‘‘Most drones have a system in their computer database, which won’t let them fly near controlled airspace as a safeguard, but because we’re not a registered airport that doesn’t apply, so its a matter of general knowledge really.’’
Matheson said the most serious incident happened about three months ago, when a drone got ‘‘exceptionally close’’ to a helicopter landing at the airport.
‘‘Two aircraft had landed on the helipad, which they can easily do, but just as the second one landed this drone took off from the beach just below the helipad.
‘‘It was within centimetres of the aircraft’s tail rotor, and if it had hit it would have caused the aircraft to spin around and crash into the second one, which could have been quite catastrophic.’’
Matheson said adding new signage would go a long way to fixing the problem. ‘‘It definitely will be helpful. ‘‘It’s good, as usual these things take time, but once we’ve got some signage established it will be excellent.’’
Te Anau Councillor Ebel Kremer said the council was working to find the best place to put the new signs up.
‘‘A local engineer is working with the appropriate parties to see where we can put up some signage - it was a significant concern at the time so we just want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’
The new measures coincide with the council’s approval of a new policy concerning drone use in the district
The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Policy will regulate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as drones, on council land.
The new policy will operate in conjunction with current Civil Aviation Authority rules on drone use, which restrict drone usage to daylight hours, flight beneath 120 metres, and not within 4km of an airport.
According to the new policy, drone operators will not need to get approval to fly their vehicles over council land except in certain situations.
These include usage within 50m of sports fields, cemeteries, buildings on council land (including playgrounds and swimming pools), and livestock.
Drones would also need approval to fly within 50m of other open space users, and within 100m of another drone.
Public consultation on the policy was held from December 17 to January 21, and three submissions were received.
While there will be special signage installed on the Te Anau lakefront, there will be no substantive changes to the rules there.