PG may have gone mute on CVD but he still has a word or two on another troubling three letter acronym...UAV.
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CASA plans legal action over drone crash in Geraldton
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said it would monitor the effect of the changes, but the risks were low.
"The risks from smaller remotely piloted aircraft under two kilograms are very small to both people and property," he said.
Confusion grows over regulations for drones
Drone operators are concerned the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is sending mixed messages about the operation of unmanned small aircraft after a handful of incidents.
CASA has recommended legal action against a commercial operator involved in an incident in Geraldton in April while relaxing rules for drones under 2kg.
Brad Mason, secretary of the Australian Certified UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) Operators Association, said it was "deeply concerned at the safety implications of CASA's recently proposed deregulation of UAVs under 2kg."
"That specific type of system is increasingly appearing to be the primary type of threat being encountered by manned aviation," Mr Mason said.
However, CASA said the rules would apply only to non built-up areas, such as farms.
In April, triathlete Raija Ogden was injured when a drone allegedly hit her in the head during a triathlon in Geraldton.
CASA said this week it had completed its investigation into the incident. Spokesman Peter Gibson said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions would look at the findings to decide whether to prosecute.
Mrs Ogden, of Perth, said at the time she had cuts to her head and paramedics took "a piece of propeller" from her head.
The drone operator Warren Abrams, of New Era Photography and Film, was hired to film the event in return for free advertising, the organisers said.
Mr Abrams said he was confident it would be acknowledged it was an accident. "I was questioned for 4 1/2 hours during the investigation and provided video evidence of me testing the equipment - which proved the equipment was faulty," he said.
Mr Abrams said he was sorry for any injuries. "I have apologised and I feel terrible she was hurt - but it was an accident."
Mr Abrams said the drone had never given any trouble before.
The ACUO dismissed claims by Mr Abrams made on ABC radio that someone had channel-hopped and taken control of the drone.
"You can get some interference from mobile phones but this drone was operating outside the regulations of being closer than 30m to people," Mr Mason said.
Mr Abrams has a licence to operate the drone but it is not a commercial operator's licence.
There are more than 100 commercial drone operators in Australia but CASA said there were tens of thousands of recreational drones in use.
Sophisticated commercial drones can cost up to $70,000.
All passing strange this drone (UAV) growing phenomena, certainly has captured the attention of the MSM both here and overseas...
Airports seek to rein in drones
In a submission to CASA, AAA chief executive Caroline Wilkie said the association was aware of UAVs that weighed less than 1kg yet contained cameras with an aluminium chassis and could reach 10,000ft.
“A device such as this being operated by a recreational user or commercial user without the appropriate approvals, training or general aviation knowledge has the potential to pose a significant safety risk to piloted aircraft, airports and the general public,’’ she said.
“There have been several near-miss incidents occurring between UAVs and aircraft in recent months that could have had catastrophic consequences.
“One incident involved a de Havilland DHC-8 plane that narrowly avoided a collision with a UAV by 20m near Perth.
The other involved the pilot of a rescue helicopter in Newcastle having to take evasive action to avoid a UAV above Hunter Football Stadium.
“The AAA believes that owners of RPA capable of infringing on protected airspace and interfering with the safe operation of other aircraft and airports, must be required to obtain an unmanned operators certificate and be educated on the potential impact that improper use of RPAs can have on aviation safety.’’
US launches light drone initiative while CASA doesn’t license them
America’s FAA continues to fly a different path when it comes to the proliferation of lightweight drones, mainly quadcopters, compared to Australia’s CASA, which proposed to leave them unlicensed.
It is now circulating a detailed infographic on what private drone and model plane users should and shouldn’t do with vehicles that pack a lot of kinetic energy, and are falling in price as they rise sharply in their capabilities.
It is this rendering of the misuse of light weight drones as a police rather than CASA matter which is causing resistance in aviation and airport circles. The legal consequences of the CASA devolution of its powers in relation to small yet potent aerial devices that have already shown themselves capable of flying into controlled airspace and the path of airliners are where the concerns have arisen.
However enough of the drift, but still on topic, here is the ACUO response to the Forsyth report..
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Federal Government Aviation Safety Regulation Review Report Fails to Address Unmanned Aircraft Safety Matters
The Australian Certified UAV Operators Association (ACUO) provisionally welcomes yesterday’s release of the report of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review, but expresses concern that a major opportunity to examine the broad range of challenges posed by the increasing numbers of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) has been missed.
ACUO is of the view that CASA’s structures for developing UAS regulations and providing effective oversight of this emerging sector remain under-resourced and unresponsive to real world commercial conditions, with the safety review report completely silent on UAS matters as a whole.
ACUO President, Joe Urli, says “we will be taking up the Government’s invitation for responses to the Aviation Safety Regulation Review as we believe there is still much work needed to ensure the safe integration of UAS into Australian airspace.
“We note that the review felt it appropriate to address specific matters such as gliding, ultralights, parachuting, hang gliding and ballooning, but not one of the highest growth sectors of aviation in unmanned aircraft. That these sectors should be examined whereas UAS were ignored raises questions of comprehensiveness and lack of attention to the evidence provided.”
“ACUO is deeply concerned at the safety implications of CASA’s recently proposed deregulation of UAS under 2kg in weight with that specific type of system increasingly appearing to be the primary type of threat being encountered by manned aviation. CASA’s proposed approach has significant safety implications but clearly this did not become apparent to the Aviation Safety Regulation Review panel.
“ACUO believes the overarching reforms put forward by the Aviation Safety Regulation Review do have some potential to aid in addressing these issues but there remains a need for specific focus on UAS issues, as opposed to generic reforms.
“ACUO looks forward to continued constructive engagement with the Federal Government as it considers the most appropriate way forward for aviation safety in Australia as a whole. We strongly urge the Federal Government to act to ensure UAS are not neglected in this evaluation, lest the near miss incidents of recent months come to result in a significant aviation accident and serious injuries or the loss of lives.”
TICK TOCK the acronyms are mounting...err what's the next one?? Oh that's right the TSBC peer review report...
