[Peetwo]

Barry O calls on 6D to act now on drones -

Background from Senate Estimates thread: 

Update: Senate RRAT Estimates & Inquiry news -

April 8 2017


'It has the potential to get worse': Mid-air incidents involving drones increases.



Andrew Brown

According to Mark Will, there's only one guarantee when it comes to flying drones: at some point, they're going to be crashed.

Having flown drones for almost two years, he also runs a "drone boot camp", which teaches new users how to safely fly the aircraft.
  
Mark Will said more information should be provided to drone users in order to prevent crashes or near misses with aircraft. Photo: Rohan Thomson  

   
 However far more concerning for the Senators should be this dramatic headline, story and in particular photo by expert (cough - ) aviation commentator GT:

Drone Targets Singapore Airlines A350

A drone has flown close to an A350 performing an flyby in Perth, Australia
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Singapore Airlines A350 flies past a drone. Credit Daniel Kitlar of DK and CK Photos

The future of low level plane fly-pasts in Australia is in jeopardy after a drone came within an alleged 300ft of a Singapore Airlines A350 on Wednesday afternoon in Perth. 

Singapore Airlines, celebrating its 50th year of operating to Perth launched an online photographic competition of its new A350 and had publicized the air route and altitude of the fly-past.

The dramatic picture taken by Daniel Kitlar of DK and CK Photos was shot from the Mend Street jetty in South Perth and captures the drone approaching the A350 as it flew over Heirisson Island.

Mr Kitlar, an experienced drone operator, said he was stunned when he reviewed his photos later to see the drone.

“In my experience, that drone would have to been at 1200ft and the A350 was flying at 1500ft," said Mr Kitlar.

And the angle that the photo was taken related to the flightpath confirms that height assessment. 

Drone enthusiasts reported that two people were illegally operating a DJI Phantom 4 drone with a camera attached from Langley Park adjacent to the flightpath of the A350.

When challenged that they were operating outside regulations for height they hurled abuse...

Source : http://www.airlineratings.com/news.php?id=1151

 
Hmm...TICK..TICK..TICK..TICK...


Of course according to the Act, when a collision inevitably happens CASA won't be responsible...
 

Which leads me to today's coverage of Senator Barry O'Sullivan's concerns and calls for  miniscule 6D to act ASAP:

Drone regulations need tightening to avoid 'catastrophic' accidents, senator says
AM 
By regional affairs reporter Lucy Barbour
Posted earlier today at 6:10am

[b]PHOTO:[/b] After changes made last September, drones can be used without registration or a remote pilot's licence. (ABC News: Norman Hermant)
[b]RELATED STORY:[/b] More drones used to assess crop health
[b]RELATED STORY:[/b] Drone senate inquiry raises safety concerns
[b]MAP: [/b]Australia

A Coalition senator is calling on the Federal Government to toughen up laws on the use of small drones.

Queensland senator Barry O'Sullivan said he feared a "catastrophic" accident was possible if measures to govern the use of drones that weigh less than 2 kilograms were not considered immediately.

Last September, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) relaxed rules around the use of small drones.

They can now be used without registration or a remote pilot's licence but operators must abide by general aircraft rules, including keeping away from flight paths.

Senator O'Sullivan said he feared regulations were removed too quickly.

"These people have got these pieces of tin with no training, no proficiency — up they go," he said.

"We do not even have rules about whether they are intoxicated or not. There is nothing."

[b]PHOTO:[/b] Farmers use drones for everything form aerial mapping to assessing crops. (Supplied)

Senator O'Sullivan, who investigated aircraft crashes in his earlier career, is worried an amateur could fly a drone into a crop duster or even a passenger jet.

"If the two come into contact with each other, the result is probably catastrophic," he said.

Xenophon backs calls to introduce stricter regulation
To date there have been no collisions between drones and manned aircrafts in Australia.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's Stuart Godley said the chance of a catastrophic event was "very low" but added it was difficult to determine who owned the drones that were causing problems.

"The fact that most of them are above 1,000 feet and most of them are in capital cities, in particular Sydney, and that the weekends are overrepresented, suggests that these are probably amateurs flying for fun," he said.

The rules around drones

Beginner or enthusiast, here's what you need to know about how to operate a drone safely and what laws you need to follow.

A Senate inquiry is investigating drone regulations and safety, but Senator O'Sullivan wants the Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester to consider re-introducing regulations immediately.

"I am calling on the [Infrastructure] Minister to turn his mind to this immediately and to put some interim regulation in, if necessary, as a stop gap until a Senate inquiry has finished its work, until CASA has finished their considerations," he said.

Crossbench senator Nick Xenophon backed that call.

"You cannot buy a mobile phone in Australia without providing your driver's licence, without providing ID. But you can just buy a drone, no need for identification, and you can fly it in the path of a commercial aircraft," he said.

[b]VIDEO:[/b] Could drones be the newest tool in disaster recovery? (ABC News)

Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester said it was unlikely anything would change.

"I am not going to second-guess the experts. I am not going to second-guess the outcomes of the drones safety review that was announced late last year," he said.

"We need to balance the risk here. We need to listen to the expert advice but also not stop a developing industry from flourishing."

Many industries welcomed the chance to fly drones without the hassle of red tape, and farmers use them for everything from aerial mapping to working out where crops need water.

 
Barry O: "I am calling on the [Infrastructure] Minister to turn his mind to this immediately and to put some interim regulation in, if necessary, as a stop gap until a Senate inquiry has finished its work, until CASA has finished their considerations,"

And the now predictable soft-cock 6D response...

..Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester said it was unlikely anything would change.

"I am not going to second-guess the experts. I am not going to second-guess the outcomes of the drones safety review that was announced late last year," he said.

"We need to balance the risk here. We need to listen to the expert advice but also not stop a developing industry from flourishing."

UDB?? -


MTF...P2