Horizon Imaging was recently interviewed as an industry expert by Sky News following the release of a report by the UK Civil Aviation Authority detailing a near-miss between a drone and a passenger airliner in July 2014. The report is particularly concerning in the run up to Christmas where drones are tipped to be one of the most popular presents.
“The pilot who spotted the drone was flying an Airbus A320 at an altitude of 700ft. The plane can carry as many as 180 passengers. The report is expected to class the incident as category A, meaning there was a serious risk of collision. With the cost of drone technology falling, they are being used for everything from promotional videos to gathering pictures for the news. And this Christmas thousands of drones are likely to be sold on the high street and online.”
The brief interview touched on the problem of being able to purchase drones and fly them without any prior knowledge or training – a subject I touched on in a previous blog post.
“In the early days of model flying (which is mainly where this problem is arising), you would go to a model flying club, you’d be taught how to fly and you’d learn all the safety aspects that way. “These days that is completely by-passed. You can buy one with no prior knowledge of how to operate them and that’s when the problem arises.”
