Drones pose new risk for aircraft
Drones pose new risk for aircraft in Canadian skies
Transport Canada eyes new regulations as unmanned aerial vehicles become more common in Canadian skies, posing a potential risk for other air traffic
As the Porter Airlines flight set up for its approach to Washington’s Dulles airport on a recent flight from Toronto, the pilots suddenly found they had some company in the skies — a drone.
The black and silver unmanned aircraft was spotted 850 metres above the ground and came within 15 metres of the Porter Dash 8 turboprop, according to a preliminary Transport Canada report.
The aircraft landed safely and police were notified about the mid-air rendezvous, which happened on June 29.
The incident drives home a growing concern for aviation officials on both sides of the border over the proliferation of amateur drones — and the potential risk they pose for other aircraft in the skies.
“The risk is you could end up hitting one of these things. And they’re so small, you’re not necessarily going to see them until the last second,” said Capt. Dan Adamus, a veteran pilot who heads the Canada Board of the Air Line Pilots Association.
“If you ingested one of these things into an engine or even hit the windscreen, yeah, it would be bad,” he said.
He said hitting a drone would be like hitting a bird, likely worse. Bird strikes have been known to damage aircraft fuselages, shatter windscreens and cause engine failures.
Once restricted to the military and police, light unmanned aerial vehicles have become new aerial playthings for hobbyists and have found new use in commercial enterprises too. Amazon, for example, is asking U.S. regulators for permission to use drones to deliver small packages, The Associated Press reports.
“We believe customers will love it, and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers worldwide as soon as we are permitted to do so,” Amazon said in the letter to the Federal Aviation Administration.
But regulators in both Canada and in the U.S. have so far moved cautiously in allowing the widespread commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
And Adamus says amateur operators are often in the dark about the potential risk of flying their drones over urban areas.
“They could be on a flight path for an arrival to a runway. They might be five miles from the airport but those aircraft are on final (descent) and they have no idea,” Adamus said.
“If it’s going to be flying in our airspace, it needs to be adhering to all the rules,” he said. “They need to be regulated.”
A Star review of Transport Canada records reveals there have been potential conflicts over the past 12 months as drones become more common in Canadian skies.
Earlier this month, controllers at Pearson International were forced to change flight patterns at Canada’s busiest airport to steer aircraft away from a drone that pilots had spied flying over north Toronto.
“Multiple aircraft on short final to Toronto runway 24R reported seeing a drone operating . . . left of centreline. Changed operation to land runway 23 only,” reads the Transport Canada report, adding that Toronto police officers were dispatched to look for the drone and its operator.
Controllers at Vancouver International Airport were forced to shift operations at their busy airport in June after a drone was spotted flying in the approach path to a runway.
Other incidents:
•Earlier this month, another Porter Airlines flight had an encounter with a drone, this time as it climbed out of Boston’s Logan airport en route to Toronto. “The flight crew reported that a black unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with pink neon engines appeared on the aircraft’s right side in close proximity . . . at an altitude of 5,800 feet (1,768 metres),” the report said, adding that Massachusetts State Police were alerted.
•On July 2, the pilot of a twin-engine aircraft departing from Vancouver reported a near-collision with a drone and was forced to climb to avoid the unmanned aircraft, missing it by an estimated 30 metres.
•On June 6, the pilots of a Beech turboprop en route to Victoria at 3,800 metres (12,500 feet) reported passing what appeared to be an unmanned aerial vehicle, described as “black, wingless” and about three metres in size.
•Air traffic controllers in the Maritimes were faced with a drone of a different sort in April — a jet-powered Global Hawk UAV operated by the U.S. air force entered Canadian airspace unannounced flying at 18,300 metres (60,000 feet) — far above the cruising altitudes of commercial jets.
Under Transport Canada rules, operators of unmanned aerial vehicles that weigh more than 35 kilograms or are being used for non-recreational purposes are required to get a “special flight operations certificate.” To get a certificate, the operator has to provide details of how and where the drone will be flown. In 2013, the department issued 945 certificates, up from 155 in 2011.
It’s up to the operator to “ensure that the UAV operation is conducted in such a way that the safety of persons and property on the ground and other airspace users is not jeopardized,” department spokesperson Roxane Marchand told the Star in an email.
Unmanned aerial vehicles that weigh less than 35 kilograms and are used for recreational purposes are classed as model aircraft and exempt from the need for a special certificate. However, the department says they cannot be flown into clouds or “in a manner that is or is likely to be hazardous to aviation safety.”
Marchand said that Transport Canada follows up on drone sightings with local authorities to determine if the operators have broken regulations or the terms of their certificate. Operators who fly their unmanned aerial vehicles without a certificate can be hit with a fine of up to $5,000 for individuals or $25,000 for corporations.
Meanwhile, Transport Canada has created a UAV working group to examine rule changes “to allow the safe and routine integration of UAVs into civil airspace,” she said.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration says that model aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles used for recreational purposes, can be flown as long as they don’t interfere with manned aircraft and are kept within sight of the operator. As well, operators flying their aircraft within eight kilometres of an airport must notify the airport operator and air traffic control tower.
Earlier this week, two men in New York City were charged after a drone was flown near a police helicopter, according to a report in the New York Times.
Transport Canada records reveal that it hasn’t always been smooth flying for the aerial devices, especially ones flown by police departments.
In two cases, drones used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police have suffered mechanical problems, resulting in crash landings. The OPP was using an Aeryon Scout drone — billed by its maker as an “aerial intelligence gathering system” — during an operation near Baxter, Ont. in August 2013 when it suffered a mechanical problem and fell more than 40 metres onto a road below. While there were no injuries, the drone was destroyed.
The RCMP drone was being used during a training exercise in Yellowknife last summer when it suffered a mechanical problem that caused a hard landing, resulting in “substantial damage.”