Fears mount drone will down plane
It could be just a matter of time before a drone causes a fatal plane crash, a former commercial pilot warns in the wake of a drone causing widespread flight delays at Auckland Airport.
In the worst-case scenario, that could mean disabling a big, twinjet commercial plane, said Air Line Pilots’ Association senior technical officer Dave Reynolds.
If a drone ripped through the jet propulsion system, or pierced the armoured windscreen and injured a pilot, it could trigger a fatal crash.
‘‘If the aircraft became disabled, and it happened at a low level and the engine disintegrated, it could be catastrophic.’’
Although unlikely, these disaster scenarios were still ‘‘not inconceivable’’, Reynolds said.
Pilots are required to report drone sightings in their vicinity in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace to Airways, the national air navigation service.
On Tuesday, a drone being flown near Auckland Airport forced about 20 approaching flights to delay their landings, with one flight from Japan diverted to Ohakea.
Responding to the expensive delays, Air New Zealand chief operations integrity and standards officer Captain David Morgan said drone use around airports was recklessly putting the safety of the travelling public at risk.
The Auckland incident has renewed ongoing calls by the pilots association for all drone users to be registered and licensed.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said the agency shared the association’s concerns about drone pilots either flouting or being unaware of the civil aviation rules for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
‘‘We are working with other agencies and developing campaigns to raise UAV pilots’ awareness of flying their UAVs safely.’’
The agency is reviewing rules around flying UAVs safely, and will be taking into account the views of all interested parties, including the pilots association.
Lagan said her agency was continuing to work with police and exploring all avenues to find the operator involved in Tuesday’s incident in Auckland.
Figures released by the CAA, under the Official Information Act, show a monthly breakdown of 300 drone incidents over 2017, many of them around airports.
The authority did not prosecute anyone over these incidents but some enforcement action was taken.