One of the main concerns when it comes to drones is the potential of one colliding with a plane. That fear became reality when a drone in Canada collided with a Skyjet charter plane and damaged the aircraft’s wing. The charter plane was carrying six passengers and two crew members all of whom landed safely. The charter plane was preparing to land at Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport when the accident happened.
There are restrictions in place for drone flights around airports. Drones can only be flown 3.5 miles away from the airport. The drone that struck the plane was following that restriction but was flying too high, 1500 feet off the ground. The potential for drone collisions with aircraft are far greater the higher a drone goes, this is why flight height is restricted.
This accident is surely going to spark debate over drone flights, laws, and new restrictions. There are many drone operators who already think drone laws, rules and regulations are tight. This could only serve to make laws even tighter.
“If a drone were to hit the window of a cockpit and incapacitate the pilot, or were to damage in any way an engine, this could have catastrophic results,” Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said.
It will be interesting to see how this event plays out and if the U.S. takes note and moves to amend already existing rules and regulations. It’s clear that there should be rules in place, but as with anything involving regulating, it will take time.
What do you think about this drone accident? Do you think this will make lawmakers look at existing drone laws? Do you think new laws need to be in place? Or is what we have already good enough? Let us know what you think in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/16/technology/drone-passenger-plane-canada/index.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: CNN[/button]
