Cowboys annoy drone operator
A Taranaki commercial drone pilot is frustrated by cowboy operators, who don’t play by the rules, and believes changes need to be made.
Last week, Gatwick Airport was shut down, affecting 140,000 passengers, after 70 drone sightings were reported in the space of a few hours.
New Plymouth’s Bevan Lealand, who has been certified by the Civil Aviation Authority for two years, said he got annoyed when he saw video footage shot by pilots, who were sometimes uncertified and not adverse to breaking the rules.
Lealand, who spent thousands of dollars on his qualification, was commenting after viewing footage posted on YouTube in January shot by a drone around New Plymouth’s Sugar Loaf Islands, Paritutu Rock, the chimney and over a methanol ship loading at Port Taranaki.
‘‘It’s awesome, it’s absolutely awesome and I’m jealous.
‘‘I just can’t believe the courage he has got to go and do that. They are able to take incredible footage that we are not able to take easily without a lot of cost.’’
Lealand, who works in health and safety, said where the drone was flown was in a helicopter flight path, footage had been taken over the 120m restriction and the drone shouldn’t have flown above Port Taranaki.
‘‘What the hell happens if there is a drone up around 700 feet and they are coming out of or lowering down into New Plymouth.
‘‘If he was even below the helicopter, it has distracted the pilots.’’
Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper said the online video was being investigated.
Lealand said there was an abundance of illegal footage shot using drones and posted online. He believed it was time the rules were changed.
‘‘Basically, I just think that they need to regulate drone flying but don’t get over zealous about it. It just ruins the fun.
‘‘It’s getting to the stage where people probably do need to do a small course a bit like you need to do for a driver’s licence.’’
Given the rising popularity of drones, Lealand had no doubt there would be more flying after Christmas Day.
‘‘It’s going to be awesome, the sky will be buzzing with them.
‘‘It’s going to be raining so they can stay inside and read the regulations and their manuals.’’
Clayton Hughes, Civil Aviation Authority manager, special flight operations, recreational aviation and remotely piloted aircraft systems, agreed drones made great gifts and were a lot of fun but urged people not to toy with them.
‘‘If you receive a drone this Christmas, you become a pilot and you have responsibilities,’’ Hughes said.
‘‘Before you bolt out the door to fly your drone this Christmas, please make sure you’re aware of the rules and stick to them to ensure you don’t put people or property at risk.’’
In 2018, there had been a 44 per cent increase in the number of incidents reported involving drones being flown over people or properties without consent, up from 123 to 177 incidents.
There has also been a rise in reported incidents involving drones being flown within 4km of an aerodrome, to 59 from 46, and being flown near other aircraft to 51 from 41 last year.
‘‘Both of these types of incidents have the potential to cause serious injury to people on the ground. If a drone collided with a large airliner the consequences could be catastrophic.’’
New Plymouth District Council chief operating officer Kelvin Wright said if a drone was found operating within New Plymouth Airport’s airspace without permission, the matter would be referred to the Civil Aviation Authority and the police for investigation.
‘‘Safety is top priority and any decision around closure of the airspace would be made with that in mind and input from Airways, the air traffic control provider, and the police,’’ Wright said.
If anyone is seen flying a drone illegally it should be reported to the police, CAA, the airport or air traffic control.