Saskatoon pilot uneasy about sharing the sky with drones
Lack of oversight, training, and enforcement of drone regulations worries veteran pilot
Ron Garnett says it's a matter of time before he or another pilot crashes into a drone.
"They make me nervous primarily because they're invisible to radar," Garnett said. "They're just like loose cannons out there."
Garnett has held his pilot's licence for 40 years, and flies an ultralight aircraft to do commercial aerial photography.
"I'm watching a lot more carefully what else is in the air near me, but there's very little chance of seeing them," he said, as he prepared to take off from Corman Air Park, southeast of Saskatoon. "I could see a seagull easier than I could see a drone."
No one enforcing Transport Canada rules
Transport Canada has established guidelines for the recreational use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It also lays out more detailed permit criteria for UAVs weighing over 35 kilograms, and those used for commercial purposes.
Drones are prohibited from flying within nine kilometres of any airport or controlled airspace. Transport Canada allows exemptions to the no-fly zone for commercial UAV operators who successfully apply for a Special Flight Operations Certificate
However, several UAV enthusiasts tell CBC no one appears to enforce those rules.
That's what worries Garnett.
"Pilots are all following the rules, and we spend a lot of money on training and that sort of thing." Garnett said. "Drones are not."
Drones used to survey new bridge site
Garnett is concerned about Graham Commuter Partners' use of drones to survey its construction site for the North Commuter Parkway Bridge, which falls into Transport Canada's nine kilometer exclusion zone around the Saskatoon airport.
He noted its proximity to one of the main runways, and said the new bridge sits directly under a traffic circuit smaller planes often use, during takeoffs and landings.
The City of Saskatoon's project manager, Dan Willems, said Graham has obtained permission from Transport Canada to fly its UAV, and is doing so safely.
"The UAV operator must call the Saskatoon airport control tower no less than 15 minutes prior to launching the UAV and immediately after the UAV has landed," Willems said in an email to CBC.
No minimum operator qualification standards
Transport Canada's regulations state in the case of Special Flight Operations Certificates, which are required for UAVs over 35 kilograms, "the UAV operator remains responsible for ensuring that their personnel have reached a satisfactory level of knowledge, experience and skill."
It's like the wild west out there.- Ron Garnett, pilot
Garnett said that's not much comfort,
"There's no training, there's no licence required, there's no medicals for the people who operate them,"
He also wants to see the establishment of a registration system, to track the owners of drones which fly away or crash.
"If a drone causes some damage and they do recover it, Transport Canada and the police have no way of determining who owns the drone," Garnett said. "It's like the wild west out there."