Another article I wanted to share.

=====

Drone near miss over Poland | Flight Safety Australia (http://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2015/07/drone-near-miss-over-poland/)

Drone near miss over Poland

A commercial airliner narrowly missed hitting a drone at 2500 feet while coming into land at Warsaw International Airport in Poland.

The Lufthansa Embraer ERJ-195 was flying from Munich, Germany, and was on final approach when the crew reported they had just avoided hitting a drone, missing it by 100 metres.

As The Aviation Herald reported on Monday, the flight crew criticised Warsaw’s air traffic control (ATC), stating that they ‘should take care of your airspace’ and that ‘it is really dangerous’.

Despite the near miss, the Embraer landed safely a few minutes later.

In Australia, there are strict rules for the flight of remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) aimed at protecting those in the air as well as those on the ground.

Despite these safety rules, a number of recent incidents near Merimbula Airport on the NSW South Coast has forced the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to issue a specific warning for the area, reminding drone operators to keep well away of aircraft operating in and out of the airport.

There are other safety regulations surrounding recreational flight of RPAs that are detailed in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) subparts 101.

Although these rules are currently under review, they include:

- You must only operate the aircraft in your line-of-sight in daylight. Don’t let it get too far away from you.
- You must not fly closer than 30 metres to vehicles, boats, buildings or people.
- You must not fly over any populous area, such as beaches, other people’s backyards, heavily populated parks, or sports ovals where there is a game in progress.
- If you are in controlled airspace — which covers most Australian cities — you must not fly higher than 400 feet (120 metres).
- You should not fly within 5.5 km of an airfield.

You can also download this safety information in the form of a pamphlet from CASA’s website.

Drone near misses continue to make headlines around the world with Flight Safety Australia recently reporting that fire fighting aircraft in California were grounded after a drone, thought to be flown by a hobbyist, was seen flying in close proximity.

I live near that fire in California, and the drones did indeed cause problems. Peoples cars were burning on the freeway while the passengers ran on foot, but hey there is some great footage of people running for their lives. While this was going on the fire department had grounded their helicopters and planes for about an hour until they were able to track down the operators.

It is sad and amazing. People are calling for more laws, but when I looked into offering drone services commercially. It seemed like the FAA had plenty to say about drone use. Due to the out cry of videographers they lowered their requirements so that you only have to apply and they will give you a blanket exemption as long as you follow certain regulations. Very few people over here seem to be follow the FAA regulations. You almost cannot go to a crowded event without one or two drones flying over head. Something explicitly against the regulations. Major news events like this fire, they are flying overhead in the way of the public officials and over roads. There are business out there that are promoting the fact that they have not applied for the exemption, but they follow all the safety precautions. Then have videos posted on their site with clear violations.

It is going to be interesting to see where this leads. I think another indecent like the fire and you are going to start seeing stories of the FAA leavening major fines against anyone one and everyone. Some guy messing around in his backyard is going to get fined to the point of bankruptcy and it will make big news, and then people will probably start being a little bit more careful.

We went through something similar with the laser pointers. They were real popular for a while, everyone had one. Then people started pointing them at airplanes and helicopters blinding pilots. Some poor guy and his kid got arrested and got the book thrown at him, and it seems like it has become less of a problem, although it still makes the news now and again. But I think everyone is more aware that you shine a laser pointer at a flying object you are going to have the cops searching the area for you.

The discussion in the "flying cameras" section of the DVi fora is rather "interesting"... in case you missed it!

I live quite close to the North fire, and know of people who lost everything from it and others who could have, so I'm not terribly sympathetic to anything that delayed air support. There seem to be some differing views of what sort of "hobby" aircraft were in that area, so I'm not 100% sure how good or bad the reporting was. BUT, I do know that drones in the air are being reported at pretty much every fire we are having... and reported as causing delays in response.